Academy Of Ideas

Listen to the introductory remarks from this week's Battle of Ideas satellite at the House of St. Barnabas in London The announcement that the UK population grew last year by half a million – roughly the population of Edinburgh – has provoked much discussion about whether the country will cope with an increasing demand on resources. With half that rise coming from migration rather than births, there have been inevitable calls to impose tougher limitations on who can move to this country, heightening debate around free movement in the context of Britain’s European Union membership and amid a migrant crisis at Calais. For London, the situation is even more pressing, with the population this year breaking its historical peak of 8.6million and expected to rise to 10 million by 2030. With UK national house-building at record low levels – less than 150,000 new homes per year and with soaring rents in the capital and beyond – many are questioning whether the UK can afford an ever-expanding populati