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 MoreMW212 : Global Migration Unrealities | Migration Watch UK
In November 2010 the New Economics Foundation published a short paper entitled “Why the cap won’t fit: Global migration realities 2010 to 2050“. The paper argued that UK immigration policy should take account of world trends in migration. Immigration needed to be effectively managed against this background and government “rhetoric”
Impact of the ‘Immigration Decade’ on English Primary Schools | Migration Watch UK
The dramatic impact on Primary schools of the massive increase in immigration into the UK in the last decade has been spelled out in a new paper from think tank Migrationwatch. The paper examines the effect of a net increase of more than 2.5 million long-term immigrants from non English
Government Still Burying the Bad News on Immigration and Housing | Migration Watch UK
New immigrants will add about 2 million households by 2033 The government’s household projections for the 25 years from 2008, published today by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), continue to play down the impact of immigration on housing. The document’s list of key points informs us that
The Latest Immigration Statistics | Migration Watch UK
The latest migration statistics confirm that immigration has continued at the high levels of the past five years. The figures also confirm that three million foreign migrants came here under the last government (while 880,000 British people left). Only a quarter of net immigration was from the EU while the
Net Migration from the European Union | Migration Watch UK
During the leaders debate held at the time of the last election, Nick Clegg famously claimed that 80% of immigration was from the EU. The latest figures for net immigration (estimates for 2009) show 43,000 net migrants from the EU compared to 226,000 net non-British migrants – just under 20%.
Impact of Government Measures | Migration Watch UK
2009 New Limit Tier 1 (General) 14,000 1,000 (Exceptional talent) Tier 2 (General) 8,500 20,700 Work Permits (Previous system) 5,200 Nil Intra-Company Transfer 22,000 No limit, but minimum salary of £40,000 Total 49,700 21,700 4,250 Nil A direct comparison is not possible. There is a significant reduction on