Nearly two-thirds of Britons want to reduce immigration, with around half calling for it to be cut “significantly” and a majority agreeing with the prime minister’s assertion that migration damages the fabric of society, polling shows.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attempted to park his tanks on Reform leader Nigel Farage’s lawn this week, as the Brexit chief’s party has soared to the top of the polls and dominated in this month’s English elections.
In response, the British left-wing Labour leader debuted a new message that was slightly critical of the mass migration agenda while being careful to say it remained approving of immigration overall. This caveat did not save Starmer from being immediately savaged by open borders true believers, who decried it as problematic, racist, and dangerous.
Political tone policing of the hard left aside, a deluge of recent polls appears to demonstrate that the country’s mood remains very strongly in favour of border control. Most likely, Britons would back much stronger measures than the relatively moderate proposals put forward by Starmer.
Pollster More in Common found, in a survey seen by Breitbart London, that “nearly two-thirds of Britons want to see immigration reduced.” Just three per cent reported they want to see “significantly” more migrants. Conversely, nearly half (47 per cent) of all respondents said they wanted to see immigration “significantly” reduced.
It was found that a majority of supporters of all major political parties, including those on the left, want to see immigration reduced. Naturally, supporters of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party were the most likely to want migration cut, with 86 per cent backing the measure.
More in Common’s history of results on these questions shows that support for increasing migration has remained static over the past six months. Therefore, support for cutting migration seems to be surging thanks to switchers from “don’t know,” implying that recent events and discussions have helped undecideds make up their minds.
Also buttressing the idea of widespread public support for border control was a fresh poll from YouGov, which found voters were generally happy with the sentiment and language of the Prime Minister, which had otherwise been decried as totally outrageous by his fellow travellers on the left and in certain sections of the media. A total of 53 per cent agreed with the sentiment of Starmer’s message — which included that there was no proven link between mass migration and economic growth, and that migrant arrivals can damage the fabric of society — while only 27 per cent disagreed.
Approval of the message or not, the results also make clear Starmer still has a very long way to go to persuade the public that — beyond the rhetoric — he will actually change anything. Perhaps understandably jaded after years of broken promises from the Conservatives on border control, when asked whether they believed Starmer’s policies would make a difference to immigration levels, the plurality was “no difference” at 41 per cent. Nine per cent even said they believed he would increase the number of migrant arrivals.
Undoubtedly, concern about migrant arrivals is having a moment in the United Kingdom. The southern border boat migrant crisis has hit new, historic highs despite promises to “smash the gangs”. Meanwhile, gross legal migration is running at over one million “strangers” a year, and a perceived link between migration and crime is establishing itself. As revealed by YouGov this week, migration and asylum is now rated as the top issue facing the United Kingdom at 50 per cent, the first time it has beaten out other concerns like the economy and healthcare since 2016.
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