Debate on the Address

The hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) made the point about those picking fruit. There are a lot of economically inactive people in this country anyway, as the Government say there are. There are those who are unemployed and still seeking work, and there is some role there. I am not exactly certain what the numbers are, because I am not sure whether I trust the statistics anymore. When people get it so badly wrong at the beginning—when they say that 13,000 will come in and the figure is well in excess of that—I wonder how accurate any predictions can be of what will happen when the labour markets open in France, Germany and other European Union countries. That is why we need a full debate: to ensure that we at least have a properly structured immigration policy, which we would also need to discuss with other European Union countries. For instance, if I was Poland, I would be rather worried about the number of people leaving my country, particularly at the age at which they leave, because they are the economically active people. If some of them settle outside Poland, perhaps they will not return so quickly, which would hamper Poland's economic progress, too. I thought that part of the reason we wanted countries such as Poland to join the European Union was so that they could benefit economically. I hope that the Government will take that point on board. On behalf of myself and the fly, I thank the House for being so tolerant under the circumstances.