8.1 Each country must control its borders and manage immigration

Who should we include and exclude?

New Magna Carta MediumHow can we be global, multicultural and diverse if we distinguish citizens from foreigners?

How do we integrate immigrants into a confident, open, dynamic, cohesive and secure country?

Ideally, we should be free to travel, trade, work and live wherever we choose, so long as we respect the rights of others, obey local laws, respect local identity, customs and values. While there is inequality in wealth, security, freedom, culture and values, it is not realistic to have open borders because vast numbers would move to a small number of attractive locations and, as a result, infrastructure, security and social cohesion would suffer in those places. A healthy group has to maintain a healthy boundary and have membership criteria. Every country must defend, maintain and police its border effectively. A government that fails to control the border effectively forfeits the right to rule.