A recent survey has revealed that the majority of Britons view immigration as negative, while a significant portion believe only Nigel Farage’s party is telling the truth about the issue. Conducted by YouGov for Sky News, the poll found that 43% of the British public felt that immigration was causing more harm than good, compared to 35% who believed it had a positive impact on the country.
The only regions in the UK where more people considered mass migration to be beneficial were London and Scotland. The most significant divide in perceptions was found to be by age, with 54% of 18-to-24-year-olds believing that immigration had an overall positive effect, while 58% of those above the age of 65 said its impact on society was negative.
Additionally, fewer women stated that they believed immigration to be good for the economy than men, with just 34% of women agreeing with the sentiment compared to 43% of men. Overall, the public remained divided on the economic consequences of immigration, with 39% viewing it as detrimental to the country’s economy and 37% believing it improved the economy.
Notably, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was found to be the only political party that the public believed on the issue of immigration, with 60% saying that the populist party was accurately representing its stance. Conversely, 52% of the public stated that they did not trust the left-wing Labour Party’s rhetoric on immigration, while 49% said they thought the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was being dishonest about their true position on the matter.
The survey also found that the public largely believes the government could reduce immigration if it wanted to but is unwilling to do so due to potential backlash. This distrust among the public may be expected, given the consistent lies from the government regarding immigration for over a decade. The Conservative Party, in its 2010, 2015, and 2017 election manifestos, pledged to bring down net migration but failed to fulfill these commitments, resulting in record waves of foreigners entering the country.
Prime Minister Sunak has attempted to claim that the slight reduction in numbers demonstrates his desire to cut immigration further. His government’s proposed plan would aim to “halve” net migration over the next year and then introduce an unspecified annual cap going forward. The left-wing Labour Party has also vowed to reduce immigration but, like the Conservatives, has so far refused to set a specific numerical target.
Nigel Farage’s Reform party has announced its “contract” with the people, rejecting the use of the term ‘manifesto’ due to its association with dishonesty. The contract states that the party will seek to implement a “freeze” on all non-essential immigration in order to alleviate pressure on housing, the labor market, schools, and the National Health Service, as well as British society itself. Farage warned that the country is “in decline culturally” and that only a pause on immigration could help alleviate these pressures.