New polling backs up what Migration Watch UK found in the summer—that voters want to see a reduction in immigration and the government will lose its Red Wall support if action is not taken to control borders.
A recent poll of over 2,000 voters showed that 56% believe immigration has been too high since the Brexit vote of 2016. Only 20% said immigration is just right, and only 10% said they want more immigration.
The new research shows that 49% said that housing concerns were behind their worries about immigration, and 47% said services like GP appointments were driving their anxieties about lax borders.
Spelling electoral danger for the Conservative government, 77% of those in Red Wall seats—former Labour strongholds that shifted to Tory in 2019 in order to see Brexit finally accomplished—said immigration has been too high since Brexit, and that compares to 44% who said it is too high among more traditional Tory strongholds in the south.
While British people are broadly in favour of a common sense asylum system that secures refuge for those genuinely in need, 60% were found to be in favour of a limit on how many we give asylum to. Strong enforcement is also something voters support—with 46% in favour of deporting migrants where necessary, and only 28% being against such a policy.
Many of those surveyed specified the positives of immigration, with 47% favouring allowing some immigration to fill healthcare positions, and 38% said immigration was necessary give those in need save refuge. Only 35% said we need immigration for highly skilled roles in engineering and science and a third said they thought immigration is good for productivity and economic growth.
Despite the hysteria and politically motivated attacks on the Home Secretary over her use of the word ‘invasion’ to describe the tens of thousands of illegal migrants arriving on British shores every month, 50% of those surveyed said they agreed with Suella Braverman’s language. Only 28% had a problem with it.
Politicians, the media class and the Westminster bubble must pay attention to what the British people are saying about mass immigration, if they want to avoid another democratic shock to the system like that seen in 2016. Calling people racist for simply demanding common sense border controls does not win elections, however inconvenient public opinion happens to be.
You can also see a summary of this poll, which was commissioned by the think tank More in Common, in this press article.