On Friday 7 February Margaret A’Bear, ex-Head of Economics at the Abbey, came back to talk to the students about immigration and how it was currently being presented in the media.

In a wide-ranging, erudite and provocative talk, Margaret used statistics and economic analysis to challenge contemporary assumptions on immigration. She questioned which types of immigration were considered valuable and which were considered harmful to the economy. She looked at skills shortages in certain professions and the role student numbers had on the statistics most often reported in the press.

It was fascinating to see subject knowledge used so lucidly to examine a contemporary issue. Margaret was an eloquent spokesperson for the economic benefits of migration and on the need to examine the bases for political biases.