Reaching out to the world and being an inclusive society has been deeply important to our success as a nation. Immigration and openness have been good for our economy and culture. In the current Brexit debate, we need to see freedom of movement as something that has enriched and can continue to enrich our country – not just a price we have to decide whether to pay in return for access to the single market.

Yet what used to be accepted wisdom has become the truth that dare not speak its name. Defensive emotion has replaced positivity and reason and as a result we risk shooting ourselves in the foot as a nation. But the facts haven’t changed; the evidence remains clear.

That’s why Global Future exists. We are an independent think tank working to develop the insight, analysis and ideas to help make the case for immigration, freedom of movement and building an open, diverse and vibrant Britain that looks out to the world. We also want to help build a vision of openness that engages and is of benefit to everyone.

In this report, we launch Global Future with new, compelling evidence that not only is Open versus Closed becoming the pivotal divide in British politics – but that despite recent setbacks, Open owns the future.

What we are seeing is a generational divide. Open values are not restricted to the youngest generation: they are dominant among those born in the 1970s onwards. Evidence suggests that people’s fundamental values remain stable, even though their attitude to more immediate material matters may shift – so as this Open generation ages, those advocating a closed politics are running out of road.

This report marks a new phase for Global Future – as an active participant in the debate about our country’s direction. Over the coming months we will publish new, independent analysis across society, business and the arts: work designed to help make sure that Britain’s unique character as a country of tolerance and diversity is not undermined by short-term thinking that threatens to turn us into a narrower and lesser nation.

Our view is an optimistic one – Britain can and will succeed as a confident, outward looking nation. We aim to play our small part in helping to make that happen.