April 24, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Britain think their country has markedly changed due to the increased number of foreign-born residents, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI. 58 per cent of respondents say parts of the country don’t feel like Britain anymore because of immigration, up four points since 2005.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Britain think their country has markedly changed due to the increased number of foreign-born residents, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI. 58 per cent of respondents say parts of the country don’t feel like Britain anymore because of immigration, up four points since 2005.

At a more personal level, only 25 per cent of respondents say their own area doesn’t feel like Britain anymore because of immigration, while 73 per cent disagree.

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 January 2002, the Blair government introduced the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP) to attract "high human capital individuals" into Britain. According to official numbers, since Labour came to power in 1997 until 2007, nearly four million foreign nationals moved to Britain and 1.6 million left.

In June 2007, 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. Brown named Jacqui Smith as home secretary. Smith is the first woman to ever oversee matters of immigration and counter-terrorism in Britain.

On Apr. 20, Trevor Phillips, chairman of the British Equality and Human Rights Commission, said Britain is failing to design a comprehensive immigration policy that mirrors that of other industrialized countries, and urged the government to introduce "a policy of manifest fairness" to stop what he called a "creeping resentment" in British society against foreigners. Phillips added: "Immigration is part of our future. (...) The real question will be whether we can seize the restless tide of talent currently sweeping across the globe. So far we are lagging behind our competitors."

Polling Data

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? - My area doesn’t feel like Britain anymore because of immigration

	2008	2005
Agree	25%	12%
Disagree	73%	85%
Don’t know	1%	2%

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? - Parts of this country don’t feel like Britain anymore because of immigration

	2008	2005
Agree	58%	54%
Disagree	38%	40%
Don’t know	3%	6%

Source: Ipsos-MORI
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 British adults, conducted from Apr. 11 to Apr. 13, 2008. No margin of error was provided.