UNN is a forum for free speech and different ideas and this article was submitted to us setting out a positive vision of immigration into the UK.
David Hildebrand is a correspondent for the Immigration Advice Service, and a content writer at Digital Alchemy.
In the viral video “You Clap For Me Now”, the salient point is made that attitudes towards immigrants and immigration have changed due to the undeniable contribution of the British immigrant population towards abating the Covid-19 Crisis. But whether this change of heart is for the long-term is yet to be seen, as we explore Britain’s unpredictable relationship with immigration over the past few years and during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
In 2019, the Migration Observatory conducted a poll suggesting that those who favoured reducing the number of immigrants coming to Britain in 2019 was 44% (22% say ‘reduce a lot’ and a further 22% say ‘reduce a little’) with 39% answering remain the same.
While this is certainly a large percentage, the numbers from polls carried out in 2013 found that 77% were in favour of reducing the number of immigrants. However, these sentiments were not new in 2013 and are not new in 2019.
Polls from the 60’s to the late 80’s also suggest high percentages of Briton who desired less immigration. What we see is a softening of attitudes towards immigration in recent years and this is despite the effects of Brexit on EU immigration still not having come into effect.
We have also noted a marketed drop in the frequency of immigration as an important issue after the EU referendum in 2016 were it was polled at 56%. Since the EU Referendum in June 2016, however, immigration has been mentioned by far fewer people, falling from 48% in June 2016 to 13% in November 2019.
Attitudes towards immigration also vary depending on the “type” of immigrant, whether they are skilled or unskilled and what their country of origin is- there is a demonstrable preference for skilled migrants, regardless of where they come from.
As to why immigration and its “dangers” were such an important issue running up to the referendum but fell off after- despite there not being a post-Brexit immigration plan from any party- is linked to how immigration was weaponised during the referendum campaign.
One of the most common topics when discussing immigration, is its effect on public services. In 2015 before the EU referendum, IPSOS Mori carried out a poll that suggested nearly six out of ten believed that there should be greater restrictions on the freedom of movement of EU citizens. Of these six out of ten the main factors they pointed to were pressure on public services, people coming to claim benefits as well as pressures on housing and overcrowding.
However, overall opinions and beliefs as to the effect on public services are mired by local experiences, rather than the “national” reality. A very recent survey suggested that the public’s average guess at what proportion the foreign-born population make-up of the UK is 31%, compared with the official estimate of around 13%. Of that 13%, less than 1% are asylum seekers.
Rather, people’s perceptions of the effect of immigration are largely put down to local and personal experience.
“Our resources at the moment, our sundries, the National Health Service, our housing. Everything is bursting at the seams in Shetland. On the positive side, they do a very good… The negative I would say in Shetland is the housing can’t cope up here with the influx.”
Stated one panel participant from Lerwick:
“In truth, I would point to a lack of government funding and an unwillingness to invest in council housing over the past ten years of austerity as to why local authorities cannot cope. The correlation between increased numbers of immigrants and limited services and housing is an easy one to make, but it is not a reflection of reality.”
“We forget about this extraordinary work force who comes from all round the world to help the NHS… and at the end of this I hope we have a different sentiment, a different feeling about what immigration has done for this country.” Strong words by the well-known to be progressive commentator, Piers Morgan?
These include 150 critically important Romanian fruit and vegetable pickers to “save Britain’s harvest lands at Stansted”, reported by the notably anti-immigration newspaper, the Daily Mail.
This shift of the public’s view of immigration to a somewhat begrudging acknowledgement of immigrant workers, unskilled or otherwise is surprising to say the least. One way in which this has been shown is that now ‘A majority (62%) of the public now support offering British citizenship to frontline migrant workers’.
This is a thankful turning point as it is those immigrant workers who are most disproportionately affected as a larger percentage of migrant workers work in the sectors that are most exposed to Covid-19, and over 50% are renters who may have their accommodation tied to their employment. They are overall more vulnerable to the disease, and to the economic effects of the lockdown.
Unfortunately, and inevitably, Covid-19 has brought out some of the worst in society. At a time when it is most important to be united and focus on what brings us together in a time of disconnection, some have exploited the crisis to paint a more negative view of Immigration and its impact.
With a population of over 400,000 Chinese people living in the UK, and an ethnic group which in 2017 has already reported the country’s highest level of racial harassment, racially aggravated attacks have taken place up and down the country.
One of such stories took place on Oxford Street in London where 23-year-old Jonathan Mok was attacked which the Met Police said it was treating the attack as “racially aggravated”. This attack took place after a group of men told him: “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country.”
Whilst the COVID crisis has led to a softening of attitudes towards immigration- with the public seeing the array of benefits that migrants bring to the country- this has been negated by a spike in racism. The UK now stands at a crossroads for where its attitude towards immigration is set to change for better or worse.
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