LONDON - Inflammatory warnings from politicians. Knife-edge votes in Parliament. A looming election against a backdrop of national crisis. Britain's ruling Conservative Party has been caught up in a clamorous debate over deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has at times sounded like a not-so-distant echo of Brexit.
Yet for all the fury it has generated, the Rwanda plan is little more than a sideshow in the surprising story of immigration in post-Brexit Britain. While refugees who make hazardous crossings of the English Channel in rickety boats pose a humanitarian challenge, they constitute a fraction less than 5 per cent of the number of people who immigrate to the country legally every year.
Far from closing its borders, Britain has thrown them open since voting in 2016 to leave the European Union. And as the coronavirus pandemic has subsided, legal immigration has exploded. Net legal migration - the number of people who arrived minus those who left reached nearly 750,000 people in 2022. That is more than double the number in the year before the Brexit referendum.
Immigration is replenishing Britain's labour force and deepening the diversity of its cities - a deliberate, if largely unspoken, strategy that has come as a rude shock to people who voted for Brexit on the promise that it would make the country's borders less porous. And that has made it a volatile political issue for the Conservative Party, which played on fears of a foreign influx to propel the Brexit campaign, only to find itself presiding over a new era of mass legal migration.
"The Brexit Betrayal Is Now Complete," said a headline in The Daily Telegraph, a normally proTory newspaper, after the latest figures were released.
Ms Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, said "there is a sort of left-hand, right-hand issue" with immigration.
Denne historien er fra December 24, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 24, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
VERDY'S APPROACH AN EYE-OPENER
Former Lions turned coaches Alam Shah and Isa inspired by stint with Japanese club
Lions' morale-boosting win comes at a price
The Lions got a much-needed morale booster ahead of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship as they beat Tokyo Verdy 2-1 on Oct 11 in the second of three friendlies against J1 League opponents in their Japan training tour.
Conditions to blame for 'ugly' draw, says Messi
Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Venezuela on Lionel Messi's return, as Brazil got their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Chile on Oct 10.
Belgium punish Italy at set pieces in 2-2 draw
Italy coach Luciano Spalletti blamed bad luck, as Belgium bounced back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with his 10-man side in Rome on Oct 10 to boost their hopes of reaching the Nations League quarter-finals.
CARSLEY'S MIDFIELD OVERLOAD BACKFIRES
England temp boss dismayed by mistakes as Three Lions lose to Greece for first time
Player strike in England unlikely: Sports law expert
The chorus of frustrated players and managers speaking out against football's gruelling fixture schedule continues to grow, with Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate the latest to say he would support players' right to strike.
SOCCEROOS HAVE NO FEAR
They head to Japan with confidence despite never having beaten the Samurai Blue there
Toyota back in F1 with Haas tie-up
The United States-owned Haas Formula One team and Toyota announced a multi-year technical partnership on Oct 11, in a move bringing Japan's biggest carmaker back to grand prix racing for the first time since 2009.
SABALENKA TO STICK TO HER BRAVE PLAN
World No. 2 will be aggressive in Wuhan semi against Gauff; Fritz takes on Djokovic
Nadal's beauty lay in his purity as a competitor
To appreciate the retiring Rafael Nadal we can flip through record books, hunt down Uncle Toni, sift the clay for archaeological clues, speak to Roger Federer's therapist, delve into the physics of spin, but really it's best if we start with a dictionary.