Immigration is an ideological headache for the UK’s Conservative party, caught between its neoliberal new right that champions free markets, and its social conservatism, which immigration is said to threaten. But a restrictive immigration stance has been a winning ticket for the Conservatives since David Cameron’s 2010 pledge to reduce net migration.
Conservative voters still consider immigration to be the second most important issue facing Britain. But after years of stringent measures, the road has run out on cutting immigration. An “Australian style” points-based immigration system has already been delivered and can no longer be promised as the panacea.
This leaves the future prime minister to focus on preventing irregular migration, and the reliable vote winner of restricting asylum. So it’s no surprise that leadership contenders Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are promising hard-line immigration policies. While the rivals differ in their approach, both have pitched ideas whose feasibility and legality are suspect.
