There is much talk of preserving European values in relation to the question of migration. These values relate to the acceptance of asylum seekers and, of course, Europe must play a part.

But does this mean accepting all of those who are in danger of persecution or fleeing war zones? I would argue that unless all asylum seekers are accepted then we cannot be said to be in accordance with our values.

If European leaders decidefor example to impose quotas and had to decide who is or who is not entitled to our protection, then those who might have a reasonable possibility of refusal would then resort to people-traffickers – but at some point pragmatism must and will trump idealism.

There are those, of course, who tell us that mass migration is inevitable and that we mustfind a means of regulating the flow. This is of course a policyof appeasement.

If migration at its present level is inevitable why then has Australia almost totally stemmed the flow?