By Bagehot

TWO things reliably happen on a Thursday that affect the life of an Economist political reporter: it is the day of the week when Britain traditionally holds elections, and it is press day for this newspaper. This week’s print column, therefore, was written before today’s wave of local and regional elections and the national referendum on whether to change the rules used to elect members of the House of Commons. But it will be published as polls close. The column is, as a result, about another news event that took place in the last few days, unnoticed by most in Britain. On May 1st, Germany and Austria became the last European Union countries to lift transitional controls restricting access to their labour markets for citizens of Poland and seven other ex-communist countries that joined the EU in 2004.