Britain’s debate on immigration is out of control. While the right has continued to ratchet up division, the left has swung between denial and despair. That is, between those who take the “hear no evil, see no evil” approach, and those who think the only answer is to talk like Nigel Farage. Both are dead ends. The instinct to lurch from denial to imitation is exactly what keeps progressives losing the argument. You can’t out-Farage Farage, but you can’t ignore him either.
There is another path. Instead of choosing between denial and imitation, progressives can make a case that meets people where they are. One that recognises the public’s concerns about immigration, but flips the script, turning it into a story of fairness and contribution, not fear and loss.
It will surprise some that both left-leaning and Reform-curious Labour voters are concerned about immigration. But if you dig deeper, you find that both cohorts have the same values: contribution and commitment. Both feel that opportunity has been crowded out, and that the immigration system too often works for business rather than for ordinary people.
So rather than trying to mimic the populist right, or pretending the problem doesn’t exist, we should offer a progressive answer to it. If people feel opportunity is being squeezed and the system is under pressure, let’s make the system create opportunity.
Imagine a migration policy that doesn’t just fill shortages but helps build skills at home. Skilled migrants could spend part of their time training British colleagues, working and teaching at the same time. They could fill vital gaps in the NHS, construction and technology, while opening doors for those already here.
We tested this idea with voters. It prompted an 18-point drop in those “very concerned” about immigration. Moreover, it united the Labour Left and Labour-Reform switchers. We should never forget there is more that unites the coalition of Labour voters than unites the coalition of Reform voters.
Contrast that hopeful vision, where those who come here and those already here fix our problems together, with Reform UK’s plan to scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain, which would risk sending home thousands of doctors and nurses and crippling the NHS.
There has always been another side to Britain’s immigration story: a welcoming one that values contribution and commitment. I know it personally. My parents came here from India in the 1980s to work as NHS doctors. They served in places Westminster calls “left behind”. They faced discrimination because they weren’t “locally educated” – a dog whistle for being foreign. But what outweighed all that was the kindness and respect of those around them. They were welcomed for their work and given opportunities they’d never have had in India. They chose to commit to Britain because Britain had committed to them.
That’s the spirit we must rekindle. Fairness, decency, and a shared sense of contribution. We don’t have to pander to hate, but we do have to answer it – with optimism, with opportunity and with the confidence that Britain can grow again when everyone has a stake in its success. Because a country that believes in contribution, rewards effort and invests in its own people will always outgrow, and outlast, the politics of fear.
[Further reading: Exclusive: Starmer outspends Johnson on levelling up in first year]
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