Head count

I was intrigued to hear Nick Clegg in the last of the leaders' debates comment on the fact that if the Tories were to impose a cap on immigration this would be largely insignificant as 80 per cent of immigrants come from the European Union, the latter already allowed free access to and from the UK.

While I have no truck with the Tories – who are unable to even give a figure for the level of the cap – according to the latest statistics from the European Union statistical agency, Eurostat, around a third of the immigrants to the UK come from the 26 other countries in the European Union.

In addition, according to the Office for National Statistics (February 2010), the number of non-British citizens immigrating long-term to the UK in the year to June 2009 was 519,000. The number of citizens from the eight accession countries, including the likes of Poland and Hungary, was 68,000, 13 per cent of the total.

Immigration is an issue that requires to be debated in a responsible and sensitive manner, and to start with false statistics means that such a debate is becoming increasingly debased.

ALEX ORR

Bryson Road

Edinburgh