Don Flynn says Labour’s plans to reform immigration policy indicate we shouldn’t expect any happy outcomes
The last few weeks have brought nothing but bad news for migrants and refugees in the UK. The leaders of the mainstream parties have decided that the way to meet the challenge of the right wing ReformUK outfit is to track decisively in its direction when it comes to immigration policy. And ReformUK itself is being boosted by the grievances of hard-pressed citizens who want simple messages on who is to blame and how it can be put right.
The Conservatives are happy to oblige. Winning back the right wing voters who deserted it in 2024 is the top priority for its leader, Kemi Badenoch. Already burdened with a record of failure in government to deliver the huge cuts in net migration it had promised, the Tories have to account for years when everything went wrong, leading to 728,000 incomers by the time it was kicked out of office.
The reduction it had promised was expected to come from a tightly-controlled “Australian-style” migration policy coupled with the end of freedom of movement for nationals of EU countries. But the imperative for growth of any sort chilled enthusiasm for low migration and the hopes for a technocratically managed system and the upward trends in numbers were allowed to continue. Now Badenoch hopes to do better with a reversion to anti-migration policies attempted back in the 1990s, when “sending back the message” that newcomers weren’t welcome seemed to be the way forward.
Cruel messages
In that earlier time the focus had been on degrading the conditions for the reception of asylum seekers by reducing welfare support during the long periods waiting for decisions on their claim. The news back then was full of accounts of the desperate conditions of people in places like Dover, near to the main points of entry to the UK, and then latterly in other towns and cities as refugees were dispersed far away from the natural support networks across the UK.
According to Badenoch, “sending back the message” in 2025 requires an even more pitiless memorandum to be relayed back through migrant networks. If you thought five years of hard work in a modestly paid job would open the way to a secure residence permit and eventual citizenship, think again! If the Tories ever achieve government office again it will be extended to ten years of conditional residence, with total exclusion from the social support routinely given to other people in low paid occupations. With this to chew on Badenoch hopes that the prospect of ten years of hard labour with little to show for it at the end will deter most people from ever wanting to come here in the first place.
What has been the response from the Labour party? The news here is that thinking on immigration policy is in danger of being delegated to a “Red Wall” caucus of MPs elected to seats in the Midlands and the North of England whose electorates are seen as having entrenched anti-migrant positions. Very little detail has emerged as to what this group will be proposing but the likelihood is an accommodation with negative sentiment and an attempt to generate assurances on how the Labour government will push back against all forms of immigration.
A taste of this has come from the party’s social media feeds. A Facebook posting proclaiming the boast that “migrant removals” have hit a “five year high” have been reported by the Labourlist website. This seems much like “Controls on Immigration” mug revealed by the party back in 2015 which was widely reviled for its negative message and barely disguised dog whistling.
Border Security Bill
Meanwhile, the new Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill has started on the Parliamentary route to becoming law. Seen by organisations supporting the rights of refugees as an escalation of previous Conservative efforts to increase the criminalisation of asylum seekers, this prioritises enforcement and punishment over protection. Campaigners at Asylum Matters say it reinforces the harmful narrative that seeking safety through irregular routes is a crime and even criminalises humanitarian aid. It expands detention powers and strengthens deportation pathways with the potential for mass removals of asylum seekers before they have had a fair chance to present their claims.
These are messages Labour thinks the Red Wall voters want to hear, but having embarked on this race to the bottom, it is unlikely to be sufficient to stop the disaffected from going all the way to Badenoch’s harsher message, and even beyond to Farage and ReformUK. What is included in the bill is a continuation of failed Tory border securitisation and criminalisation policies that will stop no boats, smash no gangs, but will cost more lives in the Channel.