How did we get here? - a brief history of UK immigration policy

Since the early 1900s, UK immigration policy has been discriminatory and highly racialised.  Legislation seeking to control the number of people coming to the UK has consistently discriminated against ethnic minorities (Goodfellow, 2019; Small & Solomos, 2006).  

Nationality and immigration acts throughout the 20th century prioritised and secured free movement to the UK for white Commonwealth residents whilst preventing non-white immigration (Miles & Phizacklea, 1984; Small & Solomos, 2006; Goodfellow, 2019).  The post-WW2 importation of foreign workers prompted calls to restrict ‘coloured’ immigration (Miles & Phizacklea, 1984; Phillips & Phillips, 1998; Solomos, 2003; Small & Solomos, 2006).  Small-scale but high-profile ethnic tension fed the rise of far-right movements, stoked by the consistent instrumentalisation of explicitly racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric in political discourse (Solomos, 2003; Small & Solomos, 2006; Goodfellow, 2019; Hope Not Hate, 2023).  The hegemonic view was that only immigration controls could achieve positive race relations.  

In the ‘90s, rising asylum applications (spurred by global conflicts and cheap air travel) and numbers of migrant workers saw immigration move from a low to a high-priority issue for voters (Schierup et al., 2006; Duffy & Frere-Smith, 2014; NATCEN, 2014; Goodfellow, 2019; Migration Observatory, 2020).  An independent report (Runnymede, 2000), rejected by the government, laid out the conflation in public perception of ‘whiteness’ with ‘Britishness’ meaning that the term ‘migrants’ is increasingly a proxy for ‘ethnic minorities’.  9/11 and 7/7 fundamentally altered public discourse about race as the securitisation and politicisation of immigration accelerated, with anti-immigrant government rhetoric leading to more restrictive controls.  Greater scrutiny of Muslims, their integration into British society and supposed inherent threat abounded (Williamson & Khiabany, 2010).

The UK government massively underestimated (by 10 times) immigration from EU accession countries, increasing far-right support as General Election campaigns portrayed 'criminal' migrants as a threat (Ibrahim & Howarth, 2018; Migration Observatory, 2020).  Demand for cheap migrant labour and concern for refugees conflicted with resistance to societal change, leading to contradictory government policies (Schierup et al., 2006).  Immigration policies were relaxed for economic reasons whilst asylum policies became more restrictive (Schuster & Bloch, 2005).

Anger against political elites in the wake of the 2008 financial crash led to the major political parties championing restrictive immigration controls, problematising and criminalising migrants (Clarke & Newman, 2012; NATCEN, 2014; Goodfellow, 2019). Support for UKIP swelled as negative public attitudes toward immigration mirrored increasing numbers of EU immigrants, leading to the Brexit referendum (ONS, 2014; Duffy & Frere-Smith, 2014; NATCEN, 2014; Migration Observatory, 2020).  The 2015 refugee and migrant crisis attracted significant media attention as thousands of people (many displaced by the ‘Arab Spring’) travelled very visibly across Europe.  Vote Leave’s 2016 Brexit campaign conflated immigration with the catastrophic effects of austerity policies.  Attempting to fend off UKIP and hold onto power, the Tory Party presented themselves as 'tough on immigration' leading to establishment of the ‘hostile environment’ and introducing everyday bordering practices (Evans & Mellon, 2019).  This led to the Windrush Scandal where Commonwealth citizens who had been resident in the UK most of their lives were treated as illegal migrants, prevented from working, denied access to basic services and deported (Goodfellow, 2019).

Recently, amidst a backdrop of international and domestic chaos, the Tory government has pushed ahead with incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric and legislation through the Nationality and Borders Act and the Illegal Migration Act.  However, despite anti-immigrant political rhetoric and far-right activity, UK attitudes to immigration are currently among the most positive internationally with the UK public least likely in a global study to support restrictive immigration policies (Policy Institute, 2023).  This reveals a disconnect between the anti-immigrant government agenda and British public attitudes.

The developing political narrative around UK immigration highlights how powerful elites have long problematised migrants, distracting from the true causes of national decline (Goodfellow, 2019).  Centring immigration to explain away domestic challenges manufactures the 'illegality' of migration (Squire, 2021).  The securitisation of immigration in UK political discourse chimes with populism and national self-identity whilst delegitimising and harmfully dehumanising migrants and refugees.  Migrants bound for the UK are portrayed as an existential threat to the nation.  However, there is a complex relationship between public attitudes and government policy, with recent policies failing to represent voters’ positive attitudes towards immigration, suggesting that other factors are foundational to their formation (Policy Institute, 2023).