WHEN a number of former Soviet Bloc countries joined the EU last year, the Government estimated that about 15,000 people would come to Britain looking for work. The reality is very different - more than half a million have arrived and no one can say for sure how many will be heading this way when Romania - followed almost certainly by Turkey - are made members of the Brussels club.

The vast majority of these migrants are more than willing to do work the indigenous population now shuns. Once, the Birmingham back-to-backs supplied the labour needed to pick Worcestershire's hops.

Now, it is the willing pair of hands from Warsaw's high-rise tenements which gathers the fruit and vegetables across the Vale of Evesham and beyond.

Nevertheless, the time is approaching when politicians will have to accept the mathematics. Regardless of the economic benefits to employers, there will soon come a stage when Britain's infrastructure will start to come under very great pressure. Already, some authorities are reporting problems with relation to council services and schooling. There are also environmental concerns. Where are the houses for these people if they decide to stay, and how can we protect the beauty of our remaining green acres?

The time has come where we must have a reasoned, intelligent debate about how many people from abroad should be allowed to come here. We must neither play into the hands of the racist opportunists nor pander to the politically-correct whose loathing for free speech has so far silenced dissent. Yes, we welcome all those who enrich our society. But we must also recognise that our resources and land space are not infinite.