What I think Brexit has shown is that the British public is averse to 'poor' immigrants, as they are more likely to be competing for low wage jobs and often have a limited education, nonprogresive values and an isolationist mindset. I've not once heard someone complain about Pakistani surgeons or Polish engineers.
If points based controls reduce the the level of 'poor' immigrants then I'd expect it to eventually become a non-issue as it was when the EU member nations were all roughly similar in GDP per capita.
Between government mouthpieces and DA-Notices I can understand how the media silence could come about. But the lack of opposition, by people whose entire careers have been built around opposing the government, is quite concerning.
If there is a reason this policy has such broad cross-party support then why isn't anyone allowed to explain what that reason is?
You're quite right. It's more akin to drawing your curtains and locking your front door. Anyone with enough motivation can break in but at least it's not all out on display.
It seems to me to come from a difference in priorities. I'll try something because I want a new experience, whereas the people who maintain the subcultures are there because they want to receive the social capital that goes along with being the best in their group.
I would agree that normally governments make geopolitical decisions in a rational ways. But due to governments being emergent systems you have rare events in which individual incentives can line up to make irrational decisions happen. Look at what happened with the Brexit vote for example.
You only have to be better informed on a specific subject too. If for example your job involves buying large quantities of two brands of bananas, and you notice that one brand is consistently worse than the other. You now have some unique insight that you could use to speculate on the banana market.
If points based controls reduce the the level of 'poor' immigrants then I'd expect it to eventually become a non-issue as it was when the EU member nations were all roughly similar in GDP per capita.