There is interesting news on the population front. First, according to the bi-cerebral shadow minister David Willetts, Britain is now a country of 60 million people. In the small hours of Friday morning, according to official estimates and projections, in a maternity hospital somewhere in the UK, that figure was passed for the first time.

Perhaps the happy parent was one of those 8,000 underage mothers whom the government frets about but cheerfully subsidizes. Anyway, Britain's rise in numbers contrasts with many other European countries like Italy, where populations are shrinking.

But then some of Britain's population rise is due to the fact that people are flocking to live here. Polish plumbers might have given the French a reason to veto the EU Constitution, but Britain is their destination of choice. Perhaps it's because we speak English (that Estuary sound you hear with all those glottal stops is, in fact, a form of English). Many of the newcomers also praise our tolerance. It certainly can't be the climate.

The newcomers from Eastern Europe who applied to work in Britain since the EU expanded last year are mostly keen to work, and take hard-to-fill jobs. They probably like our growth rate, which is about twice that of the Eurozone. And our unemployment rate is less than half that of some of the core EU members. I guess our taxes, which are way higher than they should be or need be, are still more appealing than the higher taxes and deductions taken in many other EU countries.

60 million will take some getting used to. I hope government gets the message, and doesn't spoil the things that make the place attractive.