If no-one makes a positive case for immigration, don’t be surprised when its opponents triumph

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Brits in 2022 had more positive attitudes towards immigration than at any time in two decades, a survey has found.
Brits in 2022 had more positive attitudes towards immigration than at any time in two decades, a survey has found.

Today will see the publication of immigration stats which, most likely, will show that the UK’s net migration level has hit a new record. Yes, despite Brexit. The figures will kick off yet another political firestorm. 

The issue with immigration is that the downsides are felt locally, and the advantages felt nationally. It is all well and good those of us who believe in the value of new arrivals telling people in communities being changed in front of their eyes that it’s all for the common good, or saying that the pressure on public services in certain areas when the population increases quickly is just a price we must pay.

So the question is which of our major political parties is going to show the intestinal fortitude to make a compelling argument in favour of immigration, and mitigate the downsides of it. 

So far the conclusion we can reach is, effectively, neither. Despite Britain’s demographic timebomb and chronic labour shortages across the economy, nobody in senior office seems willing to make the case that without new arrivals Britain simply will not function in the way it does today.

The end result of that, as ever, is nativism; by refusing to make the case that immigration is a good thing, the field is open to those who would take the argument in a different direction altogether. 

There are enough reasons, funnily enough, not to come to the UK at the moment. In London, it is hard to look at our housing market and suggest that anybody arriving here would find it a welcoming environment in which to set down roots, for instance. Allowing nasty anti-immigration rhetoric to win the battle of ideas will only weaken the UK’s standing internationally. 

London’s leaders are doing their bit, but national politicians need to do more. Perhaps it is naive to hope that, when Britain is proving incapable of stopping illegal immigration, anybody would stick their head above the parapet for legal immigration – especially before an election. But by goodness, somebody has to.