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 MoreSecret Cable plan could double flow of economic migrants | Migration Watch UK
Just as the Prime Minister is promising that “this year the government is determined to help deliver many thousands of new jobs”, Vince Cable is secretly negotiating a deal that will admit tens of thousands of Indian workers to Britain. The deal is part of a Free Trade Agreement being
Bogus Student Clampdown ‘Economically and Morally Justified’ | Migration Watch UK
The Government’s planned clampdown on the long running issue of bogus students is both economically justified and entirely fair, says a new report from think-tank Migrationwatch, issued as the government’s consultation period ends on 31 January. The proposals are designed primarily to stop the widespread abuse by people coming to Britain under
The Comment That Wasn’t Free
An articleattacking our paper on bogus students appeared in the Guardian on 9/01/11. The response below was offered to the paper but they declined to publish. Bogus foreign students, and indeed bogus colleges in Britain, are a serious problem – not withstanding the IPPR attempts to quibble with our description of some of
The Impact of the Points Based System
Summary 1. This briefing paper looks at the effect of introducing the Points Based System (PBS) on immigration control. It finds that the PBS is an ineffective instrument for the task. The PBS gives primacy to “objective criteria” for the issue of a visa rather than immigration control objectives. Student
New Wave of East European Workers Takes Lion’s Share of New Jobs and Puts Government Immigration Target at Risk | Migration Watch UK
Figures published today1 show that there were nearly 300,000 more people in employment in the UK in the third quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. However, nearly half of these jobs went to foreign nationals, including 98,000 extra workers from the new East European members of the
Migration – The Environmental Consequences for the UK | Migration Watch UK
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK will soar by almost 515 million tonnes over the period from 2008 to 2033 solely as a result of the projected increase in population due to net migration over that period, says a new report out today. The report from think-tank Migrationwatch on the