THE migration statistics for the year ending September 2013 which were published last week gave rise to some pretty dramatic headlines.

They were presented as a disastrous failure of the Government’s immigration policy.

Well, I’ve often quoted the wisdom of General William Slim in this column and I don’t hesitate to do so again: “Nothing is ever as bad as reported.” If we look below the headlines, we can see something quite remarkable has happened.

Immigration from outside the European Union has been reduced to its lowest level for 16 years.

There are now 82,000 fewer non-EU migrants arriving annually than there were at the general election in 2010. In the five years to December 2008, more than 90 per cent of the increase in employment was taken up by foreign nationals.

By contrast, under this Government more than three-quarters of the growth in employment (1.6 million new private sector jobs since the election) has been accounted for by British citizens.

This is a consequence of the changes in immigration policy that were ushered in at the 2010 election. This has included the imposition of an annual cap on numbers, a points system to ensure we admit skilled and talented workers, new proficiency in English tests, and demanding earnings thresholds before dependents can join the breadwinner.

These measures have seen a reduction in the numbers of family visas granted: they are down by nearly 40 per cent.The student visa regime we inherited was the source of widespread abuse: bogus colleges admitted unskilled migrants posing as students. Our reforms have choked off what was undoubtedly the principal route for circumventing immigration control. Since 2010, the number of student visas issued has decreased by almost one-third.

The measures in the latest immigration bill will tighten things up further still.

Of course, we still want overseas students to come here and their fees are a welcome source of revenue to our universities.

There is no limit to the number of genuine students who can afford to pay their way.

Equally, we do not want to close off Britain to skilled workers from outside the EU. We must always remain open to talented and enterprising people who can contribute to our country. So, actually, for that part of immigration over which we do have control, the story isn’t just a good one, it’s an excellent one.

So, how is it that overall immigration has actually gone up in the last year? The numbers of EU citizens coming here doubled last year, more than making up for the dramatic reduction in non-EU immigration.

But the Government has no control over EU migrants: free movement of people within the EU was part of the original deal that we signed up to in 1972 when we joined the Common Market, and which the people endorsed in the referendum of 1975. One million Britons have gone to live and work in other parts of the EU and we have no power to stop Europeans coming here.

What we are doing is making ourselves much less of a magnet by making it much harder for EU migrants to access welfare benefits but, let’s be honest, although “welfare tourism” does exist, changing the fundamental rules of the EU, or even the opportunity of getting out of it altogether, is some way off. In the meantime, which would you prefer: Britain in the doldrums like much of the EU; or Britain’s economy steaming ahead – even if that means that others want to jump on the bandwagon.