A report has demolished the myth peddled by some that the whole world is champing at the bit to settle in the UK.
Shall We Stay or Shall We Go, from the Institute of Public Policy Research, shows that more than half of those who have moved to the UK in the past 30 years have left, with the exodus increasing more recently.
Short-stay migration is increasing and 85% of respondents to an online survey said they were planning to stay only short term.
Worryingly, those most likely to leave are the highly skilled and qualified.
Although it could be argued that their talents might be better used in the countries that developed them, the effects will be felt here when the upturn comes and a skills shortage emerges.
What is it about us that they do no like, I wonder. Perhaps it is the disproportionate hostility from groups like Migration Watch whose website's top item starts "Even larger immigration flows into the UK than we are currently experiencing..." And you can guess the rest.
Migration Watch's misplaced rationale seems to be based on the irrefutable argument that the world's population is increasing, but the refutable one that more people wish to settle in the UK, as the IPPR report shows.
One group of people who will not be settling here is the Pakistan blind cricket team, reports Same Difference, who blogs on disability issues.
In fact, the world champions will not even be playing here because they have been denied visas. The UK Border Agency was not convinced the players would return home after their four-match tour, even though not a single member of the 2002 and 2006 touring teams slipped the Border Agency's leash. So why would they do so now?
The next World Cup for blind players will be in England. I wonder whether Pakistan will be allowed to take part.
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