Thread by @WeAreBrightBlue

🚨 OUT NOW!

Our new polling and analysis of public attitudes to citizenship in the United Kingdom. 🇬🇧

The full report is available online: brightblue.org.uk/a-better-rewar…

👇 Our recommendations and main findings:

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Recommendation one: The Government should shorten the settlement requirements for all non-citizen #COVID19 key workers to two rather than five years, significantly reduce their residency fee by at least 75% and waive their citizenship application fee.

#Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Recommendation two: The Government should introduce discounted citizenship fees of at least 50% for all low-income migrants.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Recommendation three: The Government should introduce free citizenship for children born and raised in the UK by parents who are not British citizens.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Is it important for immigrants living in the UK permanently to become citizens? 60% of the British public overall say it is. Comfortable majorities across political and EU referendum groups agree.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Overall, the idea that 'citizenship is an important symbol that an immigrant has successfully integrated' is the most popular reason why the public believes citizenship is important. This graph shows the breakdown by ethnic and political groups.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Conversely, the main reason why a minority view citizenship as unimportant is that it is 'not necessary for an immigrant to socially and economically participate in the UK'. This graph shows the breakdown by education level and political groups.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 A plurality of the public does not believe that becoming a citizen automatically makes somebody British, but that it nonetheless remains a key part of what makes somebody British.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 What makes somebody British? Our polling found that the British public believes that the top three qualities are: obeying the law, speaking English and paying taxes.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 A 43% plurality of the British public overall believes that the cost of applying to be a British citizen for an adult non-EU applicant is too high. There is significant variation between ethnicities, education levels, and political groups.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 The public is supportive of citizenship fee discounts, with majority support for all immigrant groups we proposed. Key workers, those with skills in shortage and those who have lived and paid taxes in the UK for 5+ years receive the most support.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 The public also believes that the citizenship process should be accelerated for some groups of immigrants, with overall majority support for those who work for the NHS and key workers during #COVID19, as well as 50% support for social care workers.

#Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 There is no automatic citizenship for children born in the UK to non-citizen parents. 72% of the public opposes the current full citizenship fee and a plurality of 32% believe these children should be able to apply for citizenship for free.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 However, there is no great public appetite to ditch the Home Office’s application of the ‘good character’ requirement to children. A plurality of 40% of the public support the policy and 24% oppose.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Out of the three citizenship system reforms we proposed, only one is supported by a majority of the public. 53% of the public supports the introduction of birthright citizenship for anybody born in the UK, like the current system in the USA.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 The public has mixed feelings about citizenship ceremonies, with pluralities believing that they have value for welcoming new citizens and integrating them, but others questioning their value. Over a third of the public is ambivalent about them.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Finally, we asked whether it would be worthwhile extending citizenship ceremonies to all members of the public turning 18. A 52% majority of the public oppose the idea, with opposition extending across age and political groups.

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship

🇬🇧 Read the full report:

#COVID19 #Brexit #citizenship
brightblue.org.uk/a-better-rewar…