Blogs
We publish blogs that draw on data and research, and through them we inform debate, spark discussion, and explore the wider implications of current developments.
Analysis, Commentary and Research Updates
Explore our latest publications on immigration and asylum policies. Stay informed with well-researched insights.
Don’t Be Fooled – This Government Is Not In Control Of Illegal Immigration
The Home Office today (9th September) issued a press release titled, ‘For the first time, small boat migrants arriving in the UK face being detained and returned to France’. Promising title – but is it…
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Cutting Student Visas: Bringing Migration Under Control
The numbers speak for themselves. In 2024, student visas accounted for 45% of all UK entry visas issued – the single largest route for legal migration. This surge is no accident. In 2019, ministers set…
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Migration Is Changing Your Area – Just Look At These Numbers.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its official estimates for the population of England and Wales yesterday, and the results make for dire reading. Already the headlines are coming in thick and fast: “Migration fuels population…
Learn MoreA Shocking Year, Strewn With Failure. Pull Your Socks up or go!
It’s been exactly one year since Labour won the 2024 General Election. Given that “immigration and asylum” was the second-most important issue for voters at the time – and by far the most important issue for Conservative…
Learn MoreWar In Iran Will Only Make Britain’s Migration Crisis Worse
The regional fallouts of the conflict engulfing Iran are yet to reveal themselves, but one catastrophic consequence is definitely not in doubt: Britain’s migration crisis will further deepen. Iran is already the nation from which…
Learn MoreIs The Prime Minister’s Plan Working?
Can the government stop the boats? Speaking in Dover today, the Prime Minister gave an update on his pledge to stop small boats crossing the English Channel. Illegal crossings, he said, are down 20 per…
Learn MoreA Passage From India – Explaining The Unexpected Rise Of Indians Crossing The Channel
This week the government disclosed that in 2023 Indians have been the second largest group of people illegally crossing the English Channel in small boats, making up 18 per cent of all crossings. Although the increase…
Learn MoreFrom Baghdad To Bournemouth – Granting Refuge To Terrorists
It emerged in the Daily Mail recently that among those who illegally entered the UK in a dinghy last year were 19 suspected terrorists, several of whom are thought to have been members of the…
Learn MoreDoes Britain Think Immigration Is Too High?
Polling is central to modern politics. For governments, it is a means of testing public reaction to policies. More and more nowadays it is done with focus groups to test the popularity or otherwise of…
Learn MoreAfraid Of Public Scrutiny, Government Scraps Vital Immigration Control Via Backdoor
Proposed new immigration rules contain devil in the detail – namely a very large reduction in the salary that skilled workers will need to earn in order to settle here (from just under £36,000 now to as low as £20,500). Astoundingly, details of this have been hidden from the public
Estimated Cost Of Housing And Payments For Failed Asylum Claimants
What is the estimated cost of supporting asylum seekers and how has it changed? 1. The overall cost of the asylum system is more than £1.3 billion. As part of this spending, the government is required by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (henceforth ‘the 1999 Act’) to provide housing
Only One In Every 42 Illegal Channel Arrivals Returned To Europe
Between 1 January 2019 and 1 October 2020, 237 migrants who crossed the English Channel were returned to mainland Europe. This is just over 2% of of just under 10,000 or so people who have been reported illegally crossing the Channel since the start of 2019 (see our Tracker) – only one in every
Trends In Asylum-related Support And Accommodation
The UK’s asylum system is being overwhelmed and abused (see our paper). One symptom of the beleaguered state of the system is that the number of people housed at taxpayer expense has tripled since 2012. In the year to September, the total number of people housed stood at 60,000 – the population of a small city –
Illegal Channel Crossings Are A Huge Injustice
Illegal Channel crossings have spiralled upwards this year. More people crossed in September 2020 than during all of 2019. It’s part of a larger European debacle which began in earnest with Angela Merkel’s foolhardy invitation in the summer of 2015 to irregular migrants to come to Germany. Nearly 1.9 million people have
Red Wall Constituents Oppose Government’s Immigration Proposals
Migration Watch UK have today published the results of an opinion poll focused on the Red Wall constituencies on which the government’s majority in the House of Commons depends. The poll was conducted in 70 selected constituencies ranging from North Wales across to the North East of England and was