Tag: UK Immigration
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The Politics of the Quick Fix. After two weeks of frantic Prime Ministering the Announcement Machine finally fell silent as Andy Burnham went on holiday. Thankfully this also put a temporary stop to the pubs-and-footie tik-toks. So there’s that. (Kate Devlin & Millie Cooke, The Independent, 7th August 2026 “Minister forced to deny Andy Burnham…
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The Commons said farewell to Sir Keir at PMQs, but the Chamber had been dominated over the previous week by the completion of the “Hillsborough Law”, discussion of the Immigration & Asylum Bill, triggering of the Clacton by-election, reflections on the murder of Anne Widdecombe and exasperation with the haphazard conduct of the US-Iran War…
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One of the defining characteristics of governments in difficulty is not that they make mistakes. All governments make mistakes. The defining characteristic is panic. Difficult decisions are postponed. Problems accumulate. Then events force action and politicians rush to demonstrate decisiveness. Whether the resulting policies are effective becomes secondary to the need to appear active. This…
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Wait for it! Another week dominated by Iran, but not entirely determined by it. Westminster continues to move in its familiar pattern: modest domestic announcements, internal Labour positioning and foreign policy events imposing themselves faster than ministers can respond. British politics appears to be holding its breath. Diego Garcia and the geography of risk The…
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“IT’S IMMIGRATION, STUPID!” Shabana Mahmood unveiled major reforms of the UK’s asylum policy (through media appearances rather than a statement in the House, no doubt to the Speaker’s exasperation.) The Home Office described the narrative of the weekend’s television clips as the “most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times.” Key changes, drawn…
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COMPETENCE ANYONE? Last week’s dominant headache was the collapse of the high-profile Chinese espionage case. Pressure landed on the CPS to explain itself; intelligence figures publicly signalled frustration and the story is now being treated less as legal process and more as a test of governmental competence. For a prime minister who built much of…
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SHRINKING SPACE FOR DIALOGUE, REDUCING PERSONAL LIBERTIES, NO MONEY ANYWHERE. “Repeat protest” curbs really do start to threaten freedom of expression Newish Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood extemporised new plans to curb “repeat protests” after nearly 500 arrests at more pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The idea: if you protest too often, the Home Office can decide you are…
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BADENOCH.Neverwhere by (Neil Gaiman) Kemi Badenoch, dreaming of a land where anyone might care what the Conservatives might come up with anytime soon. Even as an enthusiastic A-level History student I found Kemi kicking off with 1780s Manchester a little bit too historical. Badenoch managed to tie this back, in the context of Thursday’s murderous…
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PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Keir Starmer, aged 10 The Prime Minister’s claim to love this country while he presides over a party and government that muzzles opponents and random eccentrics rings hollow. As he pays to give away historic and useful overseas military bases while he claims that investment in defence is “vital for our…
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LABOUR PULLS THE EMERGENCY CORD. In their Immigration White Paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System” published in May 2025, the Labour government proposed extending the qualifying period for “Indefinite Leave to Remain” (ILR) from 5 years to 10 under its “earned settlement” reforms. The proposal did not stir massive controversy at the time. The…
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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BAREFACED. Nigel Farage waved his calculator around promising billions in “savings” from ripping up the UK’s “Right to Remain” while Keir Starmer tried to look statesmanlike by recognising Palestine. Meanwhile, HMG quietly admitted that its big anti-harassment law is still gathering dust. Add in grim inflation figures, a giant…
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ASYLUM.Immigration is significantly less important to younger UK voters than their elders. It does not even feature amongst younger peoples’ “Top 5” issues (discussed this in a previous post on UK Youth Issues in June, sorry.) However, when conflated with the “Small Boats” crisis, immigration has become the most incendiary issue in British politics in…