(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Almost two-thirds of adults in Britain believe their government should enact stricter immigration laws, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI published in The Observer. 64 per cent of respondents think existing regulations should be much tougher, and 12 per cent call for immigration to Britain to be stopped altogether.

Conversely, only seven per cent of respondents support either the abolition of immigration laws or more relaxed guidelines, and 13 per cent endorse the current regulations.

In April 2005, as part of the governing Labour party’s election manifesto, then British prime minister Tony Blair announced the introduction of an immigration points system. The plan divides would-be immigrants into five tiers according to skills and job offers. The government claimed the new system will eventually bring an end to the migration of low-skilled workers from outside the European Union (EU) into Britain.

In June, Gordon Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Blair. Brown had worked as chancellor of the exchequer. Blair served as Britain’s prime minister since May 1997, winning majority mandates in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections to the House of Commons.

On Jun. 28, Brown presented his cabinet. Jacqui Smith became home secretary, and is the first woman to ever oversee matters of immigration and counter-terrorism in Britain.

On Nov. 6, Keith Vaz, head the home affairs select committee in the House of Commons, criticized Brown’s slogan of "British jobs for British workers" saying it could be regarded as "employment apartheid" and risked fuelling racism. Vaz urged the prime minister to rethink his slogan—which promotes a program that intends to generate jobs in Britain—declaring that it "assumes that foreign workers are somehow stealing jobs from UK workers, an idea for which there is absolutely no evidence. It also raises the question, how do you ensure jobs are going to British people and what do you classify as British?"

Polling Data

Which of these statements comes closest to your views on laws about immigration in Britain?

Archive Search

Over 19,600 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.