Ronan O'Callaghan

2026: Labour MP Jonathan Hinder says 'nobody thinks that was going to happen,' that Brexit would mean, instead of migrants from the EU, we'd get migrants from outside the EU 2016: Labour's Heidi Alexander explained that ending freedom of movement means we'll need to get immigrants from outside the EU to pay taxes to fund pensions My view: In 2016, MPs, politicians and commentators repeatedly warned that ending freedom of movement would not end the UK’s need for migrants. Heidi Alexander, for example, explained that Britain would need people from outside the EU to work, pay taxes and help fund pensions. That was the basic reality the Brexit campaign glossed over: changing the rules for EU migration would not make the demand for workers disappear. It could mean employers, public services and the wider economy relying more heavily on migration from outside the EU instead. So Jonathan Hinder’s apparent shock that this might happen is astonishing. It is also revealing. The consequences were being discussed openly in 2016; the question was never simply whether Britain would have migration, but where it would come from and how the country would manage it.