By John Williams
I agree with Rohan Manoj’s article (IE, Oct 1, ‘Migrant is the fall guy’). As a Brit (and OCI) currently staying in Mumbai with my Indian wife, and with two mixed-race daughters in London, I am very concerned at the size of the recent “Unite the Kingdom” rally organised by convicted criminal Tommy Robinson (100,000-150,000 people were reportedly in attendance). As Manoj writes, many, probably most, of the participants were there for perfectly legitimate reasons to protest at the general problems in the UK. But there was also a hard core of racist thuggery leading it and amongst the speakers, not least Elon Musk. We in the UK need to counter this disturbing trend.
However, the article overstates the claim that immigration is seen as the cause of all the other problems in the UK — and so is in danger of falling into Robinson’s (and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s) trap. At the same time, it missed some important reasons behind the rising antipathy to migration into the UK. There have been unprecedentedly high levels of migration into the UK in the last 20 years, and immigration is still very high, despite repeated promises from governments (Labour and Conservative) to control and reduce it.
There has never been a majority consensus for high levels of immigration into the UK — just as there isn’t in India or almost any other country in the world. From the mid-1980s onwards, most Brits were comfortable with prevailing levels of net migration (below 50,000 per annum) as they felt that levels were “reasonable” and immigrants fitted in and benefited the UK. The outright racism of earlier decades was substantially left behind thanks to strong efforts in education, the law and society more generally (in football, for example).
However, from 2004 onwards, after the widening of the EU to include much poorer Central/Eastern European countries, and with the UK government omitting any transitional controls (unlike almost all other Western European countries), net immigration levels jumped to about 200,000 p.a. (equivalent to India accepting 4.3 million immigrants p.a.). This was without any warning or preparation of the host society by the government. Naturally, this affected working-class communities (White/Black/Brown) negatively due to competition for jobs while the middle/upper classes suddenly had better access to cleaners, plumbers etc. When Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007, and some immigrants from these countries started playing the UK benefits system, resentment really started to build. It was strengthened in the aftermath of the 2007-08 crash by austerity and false promises from the government to reduce net migration to “tens of thousands” without any way to do so. This culminated in the Brexit referendum, in which immigration was a major factor. In the immediate aftermath of the vote for Brexit, immigration disappeared from voters’ concerns as they assumed that once again the government would be in control of the borders.
After Britain left the EU in 2020, European immigration slowed and many returned home. As a result, there were labour shortages in many parts of the economy, from farms to construction, to the NHS and care system. Boris Johnson, then prime minister, and Priti Patel, the home secretary, rushed in a points-based immigration system that opened up immigration visas to the whole world in a fairly indiscriminate manner. This resulted in the “Boriswave” of over 3 million legal immigrants (2 million net) in just 3 years. Of these, only 100,000 p.a. were for working visas in the NHS and care system.
From 2018 onwards, highly visible (illegal) migrant boats have been crossing the channel in large numbers, organised by transnational criminal networks and transporting mainly young men seeking asylum. More than 45,000 such arrivals were recorded in 2022. Ironically for Brexit voters, with the departure of the UK from the EU and the Dublin III Regulation, the UK has almost no ability to stop them. Additionally, there is plenty of evidence of South Asians (from Pakistan and Bangladesh) overstaying visit/student visas and trying to claim refugee status.
It is estimated that 65-70 per cent of the UK population increase from 58.9 million in 2000 to 69.6 million in 2025 is due to net migration. Now and in future, it is estimated to be 100 per cent. House building has not kept up with the increase in population, leading to a drastic shortage, very high rental and buying prices, and a crisis of affordability for under-40s.
In addition to the immigration issue, Islamist terrorist attacks and the “grooming gangs” scandals have also hardened attitudes to darker-skinned foreigners in general, and Muslims in particular.
The UK economy has performed poorly since 2007-08 and people do not feel their lives improving, rather the reverse. In those circumstances, there is the usual scapegoating of “the other” and at the same time entirely justified complaints about the negative consequences (economic and social) of the recent exceptionally high rates of immigration. The latter are felt by many non-White Britons also (hence non-Whites on the recent protest march).
In sum, I share Manoj’s concern at the rise in hostility to immigration and the underlying rise in racism that accompanies it. The solutions are difficult and complex, but significantly reducing legal and illegal immigration is critical — the government must be seen to restore “control” of the borders. Whether the current government is able to do this without worsening attitudes to non-White Britons and immigrants remains to be seen.
The writer is a retired shipping manager
