World Immigration News

Britain's problem isn’t immigration. It’s a profound breakdown in trust

Release Date: 2025-11-23
Media: The Observer
Summary: The article critiques UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s new hardline asylum policies, arguing that her personal experiences of racism—being told to “go back home”—do not justify making the asylum system harsher. The writer notes that while reforms are needed due to the previous government’s failure to process asylum claims and the resulting backlog, using racist abuse as a rationale for restrictive measures is misguided.

Historically, Britain often explained racism as a reaction to “too many immigrants,” a logic now widely rejected. Yet similar arguments are resurfacing as far-right rhetoric — calling migrants “invaders,” demanding mass deportations, lamenting “white decline” — has entered mainstream politics. Mahmood argues that failing to act will fuel public anger and hatred, but the author counters that such anger long predates the small-boats crisis and stems from deeper social fractures.

Research from the European Social Survey shows that hostility toward migrants is shaped less by migrant numbers and more by declining social trust, weak institutions, inequality, and a sense of societal breakdown. Countries with fewer migrants are often the most hostile, while those with many migrants are more tolerant. Anti-migrant attitudes, the research suggests, reflect broader insecurity and loss of control in people’s lives.

The article concludes that Mahmood’s policies are unlikely to stop small boats and will not address the underlying public disaffection caused by decades of economic inequality, poor housing, falling living standards, and political abandonment. Focusing on immigration simply obscures these deeper systemic issues.
Tags: United Kingdom

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