Commentary

Commentary on current issues by the Migration Observatory experts.

  1. Family fortunes: How far can reforms to family migration go towards reducing net migration?
    17 Jun 2011
    The UK government is soon expected to start a consultation on what to do to reform the “family migration route” which allows people from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to come to the UK to live with family members who are either here already, or who have been granted permission to come to the UK. Reforming the family migration route is...
  2. Net Weight: Focusing only on net migration doesn't show the whole picture.
    26 May 2011
    The suite of information in today’s quarterly migration figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) tells us some interesting things – long-term net migration continues to increase, emigration has declined and there has been a substantial rise in immigration of both students and migrants from the former Eastern European nations that...
  3. Unsettling? Challenges with using changes in settlement policy to reduce net migration
    23 May 2011
    The government is soon expected to begin a public consultation process looking at settlement policy, which defines who can or cannot be granted “indefinite leave to remain” – the right to stay permanently in the UK. It is a key element in the government’s ongoing review and reform of immigration policy because net migration is dependent on the...
  4. Czechs and balances: What will the May 1st changes mean for Eastern European migration to the UK?
    29 Apr 2011
    Since the opening of the UK labour market to workers from the so-called “A8 countries” - the eight East European countries that joined the EU on May 1st 2004 -  the number of A8 workers employed in the UK increased by a factor of ten, from about 50,000 in early 2004 to over 550,000 in mid-2010.   On 1st May 2011 all EU countries...
  5. Tangled up in the net? Challenges with reducing net migration to the tens of thousands
    14 Apr 2011
    In his major speech on immigration today (14th April 2011), David Cameron gave a strong reaffirmation of the government's commitment to reducing net-migration to the “tens of thousands”. This key election promise of the Conservative Party has been the subject of much debate with equal levels of support - in particular from the right-leaning...
  6. Imposing caps, filling gaps or charging tax - how should we control labour immigration?
    5 Apr 2011
    This week (Wednesday 6th April) sees the introduction of the UK’s new permanent cap on labour immigration from outside the EU - a policy that is contentious, to say the least. One section of the media treats it as a common-sense approach to the increasing immigration that has vexed the majority of British people for at least a decade. The other...
  7. International students: A+ or D- for the UK?
    1 Apr 2011
    The UK’s approach to international students coming to the UK has changed significantly in the last couple of years. Under Labour, international students were an economic silver-bullet, a win-win for both the education sector and the broader economy, and as a result the Labour government introduced initiatives aimed at significantly increasing the...
  8. The Migration Observatory - better information for a more rational debate
    29 Mar 2011
    Today sees the launch of Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, a major new project that will help to inform the migration debate in the UK - and eventually further afield - and will help to make it more rational and grounded in fact. The Migration Observatory provides independent, evidence-based analysis about migration and immigration issues...
  9. Opinion Polls - a vital tool or a sledgehammer to crack a nut?
    11 Feb 2011
    When opinion polls have been telling us for years that about three quarters of British people want to see reductions in immigration, does this mean the government should take dramatic action, or is there more to “public opinion” than meets the eye? February’s Transatlantic Trends survey of opinion in Europe and the Americas reveals that British...

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