Give economic migrants the chance of legal entry

The Sangatte refugee camp has become the focus for the xenophobic tendency on this side of the Channel. But the existence of the camp does not give rise to the nightly game of train-hopping at rail yards near the French tunnel entrance. As the chief executive of the Refugee Council said yesterday, Sangatte is a "symptom not the cause" of the pressure generated by people wanting to come to Britain.

Asylum-seekers and economic migrants are desperate to get to these shores, not because of the cornucopia of state benefits which are available (they are not), nor because we are unusually soft when it comes to enforcing immigration laws (we are not), but because we speak English and have a strong, full-employment economy.

The British should regard the modern siege of Calais as a compliment and a potential benefit, rather than a threat. This country can gain a great deal, as it has in the past, from the determination, hard work and enterprise of immigrants. Many of those refused refugee status should be invited to settle here and make a contribution to our economic and cultural life.

There are always likely to be, however, more people who want to come than will be granted permission, and so borders will have to be policed. As an island nation, the practicalities are simpler than they are for other EU countries. But the saga of Sangatte has shown that, in immigration matters, no country is an island.

Ideally, a common immigration and asylum policy should be agreed at EU level. That would make a reality of the idea of European citizenship. Sadly, such an enforceable agreement is unlikely in the near future.

However, if David Blunkett develops his plans to allow limited immigration – in addition to our duty of compassion towards those fleeing persecution – it will make it easier to control the train-riders and lorry-jumpers throughout the European transport network. If economic migrants are offered the prospect of legal entry, they will be marginally less likely to resort to desperate means of entry.