Does immigration increase crime? Every time I log onto Facebook, old school friends share horror stories about crime waves supposedly driven by immigrants. London, apparently, is now a crime-ridden hell hole plagued by gangs of foreign criminals. Other big cities, we’re told, are heading the same way. They’re so convinced this is true that it’s … Read more
Small boat crossings fell again this month — down almost 65% in October. After a 20% drop in August and a slight bounce in September, the last three months are down 30% on 2023 and 60% on 2022, the peak year for crossings. This is, on the surface, great news. Crossing the Channel in small … Read more
I’m going to teach you one of the most powerful sentences in the English language — four words that define what it means to be British: Mind your own business. The sworn enemies of every true Brit are the bossy bureaucrat, the nosy neighbour, the local gossip, and the curtain-twitching nebbisher. The nosy Parker. The … Read more
The Battle Over Indefinite Leave to Remain: Labour, Conservatives, and Reform Compared Labour, the Conservatives, and Reform UK have all announced plans to tighten the rules around Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). On the surface, they’re united by a single goal — reducing net migration. But dig deeper, and the differences are huge. What Is … Read more
Every September, as the new school term begins, the press reach for the same tired filler. Cue the Daily Mail or the Telegraph running a piece about a school—usually in London or Birmingham—where pupils supposedly speak “100 languages.” It makes for a good headline, but it’s nonsense. Try it yourself: write down 100 languages. After … Read more
The Post-Holiday Daydream Holidays are over, the beaches are just a memory, and reality is back with a thud. Every September, millions of us ask the same wistful question: why can’t life always be like this? Why not move somewhere sunny, with cheap wine and great food? The newspapers know this seasonal mood well. Like … Read more
Do We Really Spend £1 Billion a Week on Benefits for Foreigners? No. Last weekend, The Telegraph ran an eye-catching headline: Cue a flurry of shares from Reform UK supporters and the usual angry right-wingers on social media. Unsurprisingly, most hadn’t read the article—just the headline. The piece itself was behind a paywall, which didn’t … Read more
Nations depend on rules – fair rules.Sometimes they’re written down, often they’re not, but either way, they give shape to our values.They guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to one another.Now, in a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more … Read more
Viva España: Labour’s Economic Plan, Productivity and Immigration “Productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run, it is almost everything.”Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate in Economics We’ve now had enough time to assess Labour’s economic strategy. Labour argues that Britain’s economic struggles stem from low growth, driven by low investment, weak productivity, and stagnant wages. Businesses, … Read more
Are ordinary Brits disadvantaged in the labour market because of immigration? I realise that most of my liberal graduate friends will automatically reject such an idea, in particular because there is an unstated assumption in the question that the ordinary Brits being hard done by are white, and the immigrants being given preferential treatment aren’t. … Read more