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Boris Johnson is reprising Vote Leave’s call for an “Australian points system” for immigration. A Commons Library paper from 2018 coyly stated “it has not always been obvious what advocates [of an ‘Australian model’] specifically have in mind.” I beg to disagree. It is obvious➡️ 
When senior Brexiters call for an “Australian points system”, what they are doing is, very cynically, sending out three distinct messages, which are heard in different ways by different groups of potential supporters (so, in that sense, it is a dogwhistle)... (2/5)
1st (but not exclusively) it’s an appeal to bigots. They hear calls for “an Australian points system” as an acknowledgement of their own view that the current system is too lax and its primary beneficiaries are scroungers (many of whom are brown or have funny accents). (3/5)
2nd it’s aimed at the dwindling band who loathe idea of racism & desperately want to believe that they’re not racist & that Brexit is a great liberal (in UK, not US or French sense) project: we welcome skilled immigration regardless of origin- hated FoM cos imposed by EU. (4/5)
3rd it’s aimed at ppl who long for the glory days of Empire (& may fall into either of the 1st two groups). No accident it’s the Australian system that Vote Leave referenced, rather than say Singapore’s. The “White Dominions” still exert a powerful hold on some imaginations.FIN
PS See also the excitement a couple of years ago when Johnson and Davis started calling for “Canada+++”. Again, no accident they chose a country many Leavers think of as being populated by transplanted ethnic Brits with accents (rather than say Japan).
PPS Apologies for labouring the point but, for the intersection between group 1 (bigots) and group 3 (Empire nostalgics), “Australian points system” also gives the dogwhistle message, “We will still have some immigration but mainly Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians - ppl like us”.//
