Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Just before the Tories announced their latest cruel barbaric Immigration Bill, & the Tories, tabloids, & right-wing "news" media once more stoked division & hatred, a 24 nation survey showed the UK has become one of the world’s most ACCEPTING places for foreign workers.

“It was unthinkable a decade ago that the UK would top any international league table for positive views of immigration” - Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, who shared the survey findings.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/f…

“But that’s where we are now, with the UK the least likely, from a wide range of countries, to say we should place strict limits on immigration or prohibit it entirely.”

Many Tories & other extremists have moved seamlessly from demonising migration in general, to "illegals".

The UK ranked fourth out of 24 nations for the belief that immigrants have a 'very or quite good impact on the development of the country' – ahead of Norway, Spain, the US, & Sweden.

One factor in the shift in opinions on the question of “British jobs for British workers” may be that in 2009 the UK was in a deep recession, with high unemployment, whereas today the economy suffers from a worker shortage, with 1.1m vacancies - 300,000 more than pre-pandemic.

“Politicians often misread public opinion on immigration. In the 2000s, Labour government rhetoric & policy on this issue was more relaxed than public preferences, & arguably they paid the price – but the current government is falling into the reverse trap.” - Prof Duffy.

Despite Tory rhetoric, in February people in the UK were the LEAST likely of the 24 countries that participate in the World Values Survey study to think immigration increases unemployment, & second from top in thinking that immigrants fill important job vacancies.

UK voters are are very likely to say immigration boosts cultural diversity, & very unlikely to think immigration comes with crime & safety risks.

The World Values Survey asks the same questions in countries that account for almost half the world’s population.

“We have seen a shift that is quite remarkable in the UK” - 'the findings were in line with decreasing public concern about immigration since the Brexit referendum' - director of the migration observatory at Oxford University.

Hence the firing up of extreme "crisis" rhetoric.

“There is speculation it is about the fact that the end of freedom of movement has created a feeling the UK now has more control”, & there had also been positive media coverage about what migrant workers bring to the economy, especially given worker shortages in some industries.

“I think it potentially creates space for a less polarised debate about immigration. To the extent there is a consensus that immigration can be positive for the country & the question was how to manage it well, you can imagine that would be more a technocratic debate.”

Of course, this was before the entire right-wing media started amplifying the grotesque & dangerously irresponsible 1930s-style immigration rhetoric of Tory ideological extremists like Suella Braverman, Scott Benton, Mark Longhi, Jonathan Gullis, #30pLee, & the ERG.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1632713456896950272?s=20