First allotment visit of 2014 and UK immigration

During the Christmas New Year break I bought a further Apple tree an Egremont Russet, today I thought I

 Garlic growing

might plant this but unfortunately I found on making an exploratory hole  that the ground was far too water logged for such a procedure so I decided to leave it until we have a drier spell.
I purchased the tree at the Garden Centre at Osterley in a 'half price' offer time will tell if this was a wise  decision  on my part - my feeling (generally) is that we should all plant as many trees as is practicable and Apple Blossom is  a pleasure to see.
(update 8th Jan) -Good news is that I've bought a bag of these apples at local Waitrose and fortunately I like them.

Another fruit tree to plant

 I noted while I was down on the allotment (my first visit of 2014) how well my Broad Beans and Garlic are doing and that some onions planted from 'sets'  are beginning to shoot, I picked a couple of Beetroot, there are some cabbages too that are available and a small amount of Kale.

UK Immigration - is it a case for worry or pride?

With 2014 the possibility of a number of immigrants arriving in the UK as a result of the widening of the EU  (principally at this time of year it is imagined that their destination of choice will most likely be London) from Bulgaria and Romania UK Full headlines have has hit the newspapers but in fact the new waves of

Is this a serious paper?

immigration appear to benefit the UK.
What I find slightly puzzling is that many people who are typically aligned with the  'free market' views show concern at this while those usually considered to be on the 'left' are far more comfortable with the arrival of new people looking for opportunities.
My view is that generally economically immigration is a benefit to developed economies, even apart from the intrinsic good of being open to visitors there's quite a bit of research that indicates  those Countries, States and Cities who welcome individuals tend to outperform those with tighter borders (look at how Hong Kong benefited for example) and indeed a recent report suggests that the UK will outperform other countries within the Europe partly as a result of the increase in population anticipated.

It will be interesting to see how the new immigration scare looks in a year's time.