Britain has many levers for controlling migration. Which ones should it pull?
Not the one marked “reduce the government wage bill”
Labour won power on July 4th after declaring that Britain had too much immigration, and pledging to cut it. The new government promptly ran into the problem that has floored its predecessors. Whatever they may say, ministers have little control over the number of asylum-seekers reaching the country. Those migrants, who are often resented—witness the attacks on hotels used to house them during a wave of racist riots in early August—are driven mostly by wars and geopolitical forces. Nor does the government have much say over the number of arriving Hong Kongers and Ukrainians, to whom it gives special visas.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “How should Britain control immigration?”
Britain August 17th 2024
- Britain has many levers for controlling migration. Which ones should it pull?
- Britain’s justice system has responded forcefully to the riots
- Britain’s government is mapping underground cable and pipes
- Winston Churchill’s urinal shows Britain’s hang-up with heritage
- Britain’s oil and gas industry faces an uncertain future
- NHS dentistry is decaying
From the August 17th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
The harmony between Labour and Britain’s trade unions
They agree on the labour market above all
Britain’s submarines are at sea for too long—or not at all
No sunlight or fresh food for months
What’s next for Britain and the EU?
Brexit’s economic toll is now clear. But the path forward is murky
Britain’s ban on arms sales to Israel mixes politics and legalism
The government has outlined grounds for concern but not a coherent rationale
Britain and the EU find it easier to talk about guns than butter
But closer ties in foreign and security policy are still not easy to forge