I’ve been cynical of the UK social/political system for some time. Even back a couple of years when the Scottish independence movement was trying to heat up, I was struck by even their lingering reticence to give up on the monarchy.

Sure, you say, the monarchy is just a cultural icon, a sort of living history trust.

But I think the problem is deeper than that.

The unwillingness to let go of past social structures has kept the UK in an odd place. Strikingly, it has been the EU that has saved the UK economically. That is why the Brexiteers have had to lie to push Brexit. But the truth is, the UK has benefited tremendously by the arrangement where the UK hosts services and imports physical goods (made/grown elsewhere in the EU.)

This is where the Japanese, who are in the same boat as far as having too many people for what their land can bear, are far ahead of the Brits. The Japanese know that they live or die based on their import/export relationship. As such, they culture their import/export ties and hold them dear.

If Johnson cuts of migration then the housing market in the UK will suffer, and all those old Brits relying on rental incomes will all of a sudden find their retirement fund wanting.