Halloo!

This is the Estonian for "hello". My son, just back from a few days in the capital, Tallinn, reports that it is a lovely town and the Estonians are on the whole an agreeable lot with a very relaxed attitude towards the rest of the world (though they don't much care for the Finns who come every weekend for the cheap vodka) and are fairly underwhelmed by their membership of the European Union.

So clearly we should not worry about the threat to our culture and way of life that will arise if there is a flood of immigrants from there. It will probably be no worse than the situation in 1973 when we joined the EU and allowed unrestricted entry to the nationals of the other member countries. Many of us remember the problems caused by the swarms of Dutchmen and women coming over here, cycling about speaking perfect English, with windmills springing up everywhere and the whole place reeking of tulips.