Professor O’Keefe, who teaches at University College London, identified brain cells in animals which form a kind of map, telling them where they are.  His own brain brought him to London many years ago, attracted by the BBC (“a terrific institution”) the National Health Service and Ordnance Survey Maps.

Leaders in the tech, media and design community have made similar complaints, finding it increasingly difficult to bring talent into the UK in the face of rising obstacles.

3          The British public is frequently wrong on immigration’s economic impact

A recent poll from IpsoMori showed that a third of British people think the government spends more on the Job Seekers’ Allowance than on pensions.  Yet in reality, the pensions bill is 15 times that of the JSA.  Respondents guessed that £24 out of every £100 in benefits payments is claimed fraudulently.  The actual figure is £0.70.

Over the past decade, there have been sporadic surges of panic over prospective immigration from European Union countries.  In 2004, newspapers reported an imminent flood of Polish immigrants.  Over the following years, the majority of Poles that came to England found work and integrated well into society.

Since then, an improving Polish economy, with rising wages and a strengthening zloty has persuaded many Poles to return home.

Most recently, on 1 January 2014, Romanians and Bulgarians were able to relocate to the UK, but far fewer took up the opportunity than anticipated – the number of people from these countries actually fell between the final quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014.

4          Immigrants contribute more than they take out

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) argues that Britain’s public finances are healthier as a result of immigration.  If you exclude pension payments, the net contribution from immigrants to the UK is more than £16 billion per year ($25 billion).  Another study, by economists at the University College London, calculated that immigrants pay £8.8 billion ($14 billion) more in tax than they take out in public services.

This contribution means lower taxes, higher public spending and lower debt.

“Current levels of immigration help Britain to deal with the costs of an ageing population, by replacing retiring workers and by raising more taxes to pay for health and pensions costs,” states the Centre for European Reform in its paper ‘The Economic Consequences of [the UK] Leaving the EU’.

“Since hostility to immigration is pushing Britain towards the exit door, it is likely that the UK would restrict immigration from the EU upon exit.  This would require Britain to increase taxes or cut spending,” it added.

The report also pointed out that at least 1.4 million British people currently live in other European countries, free to come and go as they please.  Changing the terms of our immigration policy could force them to return to the UK.