Tag Archives: immigration

Michal Siewniak

From selling donuts to being “chained”, and why this is not about the “Mayoral jewellery” 

By Michal Siewniak | Wed 27th May 2026 - 8:55 am

Michal Siewnak as mayor of Welyn HatfieldIt was 21 years ago next month, when I landed at Stansted. I remember, as it almost happened yesterday. I didn’t think too much about it. My wife and I had a plan, stay a few months and go back to Croatia, where I had a job waiting for me. We came not for any employment reasons, but initially to visit our friend, who is a Catholic Priest. 

21 years later, we are still here! We packed 26 years of our lives in a rucksack and we tried, like many, to build our lives in the UK. We have never lived anywhere else, always here in a fantastic Welwyn Garden City. We made it our home. We’ve had ups and downs, moments when we doubted whether it was a good decision to stay in the UK. We struggled to enjoy mince pies at the beginning and I am still struggling to accept that many Brits drink tea with milk. Yes, it is drunk with lemon! However, we always tried to do our best; to integrate, but most importantly to contribute in a number of different ways. This hasn’t changed. 

Although I am politically minded, my decision to stand in the Local Elections wasn’t necessarily driven by politics as much. As a keen activist, I was keen to demonstrate that we all have a unique set of skills, often different, but we all have a lot to give. Throughout my years in the UK, but also previously in Poland, Croatia and Italy, I felt a sense of service and desire to, collectively, build bridges not walls, always seek opportunities to make a difference, empower, inspire and motivate others to do the same. We have achieved so much. I also wanted to challenge stereotypes and assumptions. Guess what? I might be Polish but I have no manual skills. 

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Edward Vickers

New UK Border Regulations display contemptuous disregard for dual nationals

By Edward Vickers | Mon 23rd February 2026 - 1:55 pm

In mid February, UK dual nationals were alerted by media reports to an imminent change in immigration regulations. This involves the requirement that dual nationals present their UK passport at the overseas airline check-in desk before boarding any flight to the UK, or that they present (alongside their foreign passport) a ‘Certificate of Entitlement’ to Right of Abode in the UK, priced at a whopping £589.

This deeply concerns many of us in Liberal Democrats Overseas, and we expect the Party to speak out loudly and forcefully on this matter. Will Forster MP, our shadow immigration and asylum minister, has rightly condemned the government’s ‘lack of planning and haphazard communication’ and has called for a ‘grace period’ to enable dual nationals to obtain the necessary documentation. But while a grace period would certainly be welcome, it is not enough. This latest kick in the teeth for dual nationals fits a pattern of contempt for Britons with multinational families on the part of both Labour and Tory governments. Liberal Democrats must stand up for the rights and dignity of all British citizens, whatever their family circumstances.

The core issue in this instance is not the timing of the new immigration measures or the poor publicity. It is the imposition of a £589 charge on dual nationals simply so that they can demonstrate their Right of Abode in the UK (without applying for a UK passport). The cost of a full UK passport currently stands at £95. The government has provided no justification for the exorbitant cost of the ‘Certificate’. This is clearly just one more crude attempt to put the squeeze on overseas British nationals with international family ties; another being the expensive and Kafkaesque regulations surrounding spouse visas.

For those dual nationals who do hold a UK passport, the requirement to show it at an airline check-in desk before flying to the UK is potentially perilous. Many UK dual nationals hold the citizenship of and reside in countries where dual nationality is illegal. Compelling those who hold UK passports to show them at the airport check-in desk could expose them to arrest and prosecution – simply for holding a document to which they are entitled under UK law. Consider, for example, the risks faced by a British-Iranian dual national visiting Tehran who would now be required to show their British passport at airport check-in there in order to re-enter the UK.

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Michal Siewniak

Why does the exodus of Poles from the UK continue?

By Michal Siewniak | Wed 28th January 2026 - 9:39 am

A decision to move, anywhere, is often difficult. Moving to another city, moving house, moving because of better jobs, or simply moving to seek advancement of life opportunities can be exciting and challenging at the same time. There are those, who can and those, due to war and procession, who must flee to safety.

My story, and the story of many Eastern European migrants, who came to Britain after the enlargement of the European Union is no different. We also came for a lot of different reasons. By 2016, the famous “Brexit year”, around 1 million Poles lived and worked in the United Kingdom. Although the migration of Poles to the UK has a long history, due to communism, martial law, and a difficult set of political circumstances between the years 1945 – 1989, such a high number of migrants made a huge impact on Britain, but also on Poland.

In recent months, there have been many reports in a number of media outlets about the exodus of Poles from Britain. It is true; according to the Office for National Statistics, around 25,000 Poles left the UK and returned to Poland.

Over the years, and in particular since Britain voted to leave the EU, the story of Eastern European migrants has not been portrayed in a positive light. It felt at times that we are a problem, not a solution to some of the challenges that the UK economy has been facing for more than a decade now.

So why are so many of my countrymen and women decided to leave these shores and start the process of reintegration and se-settlement back home? The answer is never easy and it has a lot of caveats, however in my opinion there are 3-4 main reasons.

According to the World Bank, in 2005, Poland’s GDP was approximately $306-$310 billion. 20-22 years later, it is likely to reach $1 trillion. The Polish economy grew three times in the last 2 decades. That’s a phenomenal result. Poland was the only European country that avoided recession during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Secondly, and without a doubt, accession to the European Union meant a rapid and steady growth, which was supported by various investments in a number of key regional and national infrastructure projects. Whilst Britain’s economy has stagnated for years now, Poland continues to grow between 3-4% each year. In Britain, we have experienced much higher living costs, less competitive labour market, as well as more strict visa and immigration rules, which also apply to EU nationals. In my opinion, ending of the free movement has proved to be a “political suicide”, which meant to help and reduce the number of migrants arriving to the UK, however the net migration went significantly up.

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Mo Waqas

Our care workers deserve better than a 15–20 year wait to belong

By Mo Waqas | Fri 21st November 2025 - 11:04 am

I write this not only as a Liberal Democrat, but as a frontline care provider responsible for multiple members of staff across Stockton and Hartlepool. Among them are seven remarkable care assistants from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Pakistan. They came here legally, at Britain’s request, to fill the gaping holes in our NHS and social care system. Today, they keep the elderly and vulnerable safe, fed, clean, and dignified.

They are the reason thousands of families sleep at night knowing their loved ones are cared for.

And now, the Government is telling them they must wait 15 years, or even 20,  before they are allowed to call Britain home.

The human price behind the policy

Let me tell you what this looks like in real life.

One of my care assistants from Zimbabwe works six days a week. She sends money home to her children because she cannot afford to bring them here yet. When she heard the new rules, she asked quietly, “Will I still be waiting when they are grown?” She will be 57 by the time she reaches settlement under the 20-year rule.

A Nigerian carer on my team works double shifts. She has held the hands of dementia patients through the night, comforted people in their final hours, and supported families who were breaking under pressure. Her client told me recently, “She is like a daughter to me.” Yet the country she serves now says: You are welcome to care for our elderly, but not welcome to belong for two decades.

A young woman from Pakistan, who works nights and studies during the day, looked completely defeated when she realised she will spend her entire youth waiting for settlement. “Fifteen years… I’ll be in my forties by then,” she said. “I just wanted a stable life.”

These are not isolated stories. There are thousands like them across the UK.

A policy that punishes the very workers Britain relies on

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Jack Meredith

If Labour speaks like Powell, then we must stand like Jenkins

By Jack Meredith | Thu 20th November 2025 - 12:22 pm

Immigration.

For many, it’s the issue that’s lasted a lifetime. While some, like me, view it as an extension of internationalism and the support of human rights, others view it as an idea to be feared and loathed, where they feel their cultures are set to be torn apart by “others” who are too barbaric ever to understand or accept Western societal views.

The fight for a respectful immigration policy is more prevalent than ever, with the current Labour Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announcing her ‘moral mission’ to tackle illegal immigration. This mission, which she claims is ‘tearing communities apart’, involves making refugee status temporary, enforcing a regular two-and-a-half-year review for their applications, and requiring anyone arriving “illegally” to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement. These policies not only affect the individuals seeking refuge but also profoundly impact the communities they become part of.

This is a far cry from the Labour Party’s stance on immigration from the days of liberal reforming Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins. While not a supporter of unlimited immigration or open borders, Lord Jenkins was an outspoken supporter of cultural integration in a multicultural sense, referring to it as ‘equal opportunity, accompanied by cultural diversity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance‘.

There were, of course, the likes of Enoch Powell, who stood opposed to such tolerant and liberal views on immigration and espoused his own ideas, most notably his ‘Rivers of Blood‘ speech, comparing the rise in immigration to Britain preparing its own funeral pyre, calling for an immediate reduction in immigration.

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Paul Hindley

Labour’s inhumanity must be opposed!

By Paul Hindley | Wed 19th November 2025 - 8:56 am

Immigration and asylum have been dominant political issues since the general election last year. These issues have been amplified by Reform UK, the Conservatives and right-wing media outlets. However, Labour is in power, not the traditional right, not that you can recognise anything progressive about many of this Labour government’s policies, especially towards immigrants and asylum seekers.

Labour’s current political approach is completely contradictory. You cannot be in favour of economic growth and strong public services on the one hand and anti-immigration on the other hand. Where would our National Health Service, our social care sector, our education system or many of our small businesses be without the invaluable contribution of people from overseas? The answer is that they would be nowhere. They would not be able to function without the work and expertise of immigrants and would surely face collapse without them. Every immigrant that works and pays taxes is actively contributing to this country and making it richer, both economically and culturally. Anti-immigrant politics actively undermines both our economy and our public services. 

As bad and counterproductive as Labour’s approach to immigration is, it is its approach to asylum seekers and refugees that is especially disgraceful. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has outlined a series of hardline reforms to the asylum system. Amongst these reforms, refugees would have to be resident in the UK for 20 years before they could apply for permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain. During this period, asylum seekers would face continual review of their status every 30 months with the potential of being deported back to their home country at any moment if the government deems that country safe to return to.

It was also reported that asylum seekers could face the grotesque prospect of having their jewellery and other precious valuables taken from them to cover their processing costs. Although, ministers have since clarified that only valuable assets could be taken not personal belongings. A small improvement to a terrible policy.

Internationally, Labour’s reforms to immigration and asylum may have significant diplomatic consequences. As part of these reforms, the government is threatening “Trump-style visa bans” against Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A model of visa bans that could be extended to many other countries and thus undermine Britain’s diplomatic standing in the world.

A final aspect that should concern liberals is Labour’s insistence on overhauling Britain’s approach to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Labour plan to change how British judges interpret the ECHR in an attempt to prevent asylum seekers from using the right to a family life to avoid deportation. This would set a very dangerous illiberal precedent. The ECHR does not just protect the political, democratic and legal rights of immigrants and asylum seekers, but the rights of all British citizens. It is a crucial pillar and safeguard of our liberal democracy. It also acts as a common democratic safeguard across the entire European continent, a safeguard that was forged in the aftermath of World War II. If Britain were to leave the ECHR, we would be one of only three European nations to be outside the Convention, the other two being the fascistic regimes of Russia and Belarus.

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Michal Siewniak

Reform UK – scapegoating migrants? Not again!

By Michal Siewniak | Tue 23rd September 2025 - 8:28 am


I was absolutely delighted to be invited, by the Migrant Democracy Project, to attend as a speaker and panellist to my first Liberal Democrat Conference. Topic? Yes, one of my favourite ones; migrant voting rights in the Local Elections. The event went really well, we spoke about a number of issues in relation to voters’ legislation.

This afternoon, the Leader of Reform UK (Prime Minister in making?) presented his party latest policy idea,

…

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Colin Bloodworth

The elephant not in the room at conference

By Colin Bloodworth | Tue 16th September 2025 - 5:28 pm

The Lib Dems have the talent, knowledge, and electoral experience to win even bigger at the next General Election (GE) – even to help govern the country – thanks once again to the incompetence of another incumbent party in power.

What could prevent us from succeeding? In a nutshell, the Reform party, whose leader is using Donald Trump’s copybook to whip up emotions. Of course, the next GE should be a long way away and Farage’s popularity

…

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Kamran Hussain

Immigration: A Liberal Force for Good in Britain

By Kamran Hussain | Fri 5th September 2025 - 5:42 pm

In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President and Vice President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature (like this one, for Vice President) plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign.  

For too long, the national conversation on immigration has been dominated by fear, misinformation, and division. As Liberal Democrats, we know better. We see immigration not as a problem to be solved, but as a vital, enriching, and profoundly liberal force that has helped shape the Britain we love.

The evidence is clear, and the case is compelling. Immigration isn’t just a part of modern Britain; it’s the very thread that weaves together the tapestry of our nation’s progress and success.

Our NHS: The Beating Heart of a Liberal Nation

The National Health Service is a core Liberal Democrat value. We know that to protect it, we must embrace the talent and dedication of people from all over the world. Walk into any hospital or care home and you will see it for yourself: doctors, nurses, and caregivers from every corner of the globe, working tirelessly to keep us safe. They are not just ‘filling gaps’—they are the backbone of our health service. Their expertise saves lives, their compassion comforts families, and their presence ensures the NHS can continue to be a source of national pride.

Powering Our Economy, Fuelling Our Ambition

Liberals believe in open, dynamic economies where innovation and enterprise thrive. Immigration is a powerful engine for just that. Immigrants are not a drain on our resources; they are a source of immense economic strength. They pay taxes, launch businesses, and create jobs. Research shows time and again that they contribute more in taxes than they take in public services. This isn’t just about numbers—it’s about the energy, creativity, and ambition that fuels new companies and keeps our economy moving forward. From a local cafe to a global tech company, immigrant entrepreneurs are a testament to the power of a modern, open Britain.

Enriching Our Culture, Strengthening Our Communities

Diversity is our strength. A Liberal Britain is a diverse one, and our culture has been profoundly enriched by the contributions of people from around the world. From our high streets to our festivals, this influence is visible and delicious! But it’s about more than just food. It’s about the music, art, and traditions that bring communities together and make our towns and cities more vibrant places to live. When we celebrate Diwali, Eid, or Chinese New Year, we aren’t just celebrating a single culture; we are celebrating the multicultural Britain we have built together. This spirit of openness is what makes us truly a global nation.

Building a Smarter, Younger Britain

We know that Britain faces the challenge of an ageing population. The answer isn’t to retreat and close our borders; it’s to welcome the younger workers who can sustain our economy, fund our pensions, and power our public services. This is a common-sense solution.

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NewsHound

Liblink Christine Jardine: Human beings are human beings

By NewsHound | Wed 3rd September 2025 - 10:25 am

In her column for the Scotsman this week, Christine Jardine tackles the issue of immigration head on.

She starts by talking about the issue of the protests at the hotels where asylum seekers have been accommodated and the court action surrounding the use of those hotels:

igger now than before the break, with a legal ruling in England which cast doubt on the future of asylum hotels and added to Nigel Farage’s ramping up of the rhetoric to push his party’s case. The Home Office successfully challenged the ruling, but there had already been protests and the espousal of anti-immigration rhetoric which made my blood run cold.

Build camps, treat people fleeing persecution and poverty like criminals, pay regimes like the Taliban to take back those whose only desire was to escape them and build a better, freer life for their families is what he calls for.

Nobody climbs into a flimsy overcrowded boat to endure a life-threatening journey with no life jackets for their children because it was the easy option?

Yet that is how Farage and his followers paint it in a campaign which aims to undermine the international structure of protections for Human Rights for refugees, indeed for us all, which grew out of the chaos and persecution of the Second World War.

Ahd she’s not happy at how some politicians are reacting to all of this:

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Nick Baird

Labour is playing into Farage’s hands in the immigration debate

By Nick Baird | Thu 28th August 2025 - 2:57 pm

Tuesday brought the announcement of Reform UK’s plans for immigration and asylum, plans which were then relentlessly platformed by the BBC and other media outlets in an exercise that felt like a day-long party political broadcast for the UK’s seventh largest party.

Even cursory examination revealed the plans to be as impractical and they were immoral, but it’s all too clear that Nigel Farage is setting the agenda on the immigration debate, and Labour’s initial response by Party Chair Ellie Reeves criticised the plans for their “lack of detail” rather than their lack of humanity. Fortunately the Liberal Democrat response from Ed Davey, Daisy Cooper and others was considerably more robust, if much less reported on.

But there is a fundamental dishonesty at the root of Reform’s policy, and it’s one that Labour is too scared to challenge. That dishonesty is encapsulated in the statement from Farage that “the only way to stop small boats crossing the English Channel is by detaining and deporting absolutely anyone who comes via that route”.

That’s simply not true. The only way to stop the boats is in fact to fulfil the Lib Dem manifesto commitment to create the currently non-existent legal routes to claim asylum, which really would remove the incentive to risk small boat crossings and destroy the people-smuggler’s business model.

Labour could do that, as could the Tories before, so why don’t they?

Currently you can normally only claim asylum once already in the UK, yet you can’t apply for a UK visa for the purpose of claiming asylum, and without a visa you can’t legally board a flight to the UK and pay an airline instead of a smuggling gang for your journey. This creates a Catch-22 that prevents legal asylum claims. Effectively it is unwritten UK policy to choke off the number of asylum claims by making it extremely difficult to make an application, requiring a high-risk journey to the UK courtesy of a criminal gang, something Labour is no more willing to admit than the Tories before them.

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Jack Nicholls

We are the party of human rights, and we need to sound like it

By Jack Nicholls | Wed 27th August 2025 - 11:55 am

When Ming Campbell ran for the leadership, his best line was that Britain did not need a third conservative party. The situation now is so much worse; we have three hard authoritarian parties engaged in virility contests for who can be more horrible to and about very vulnerable people. I would like us to be much more emphatically full-fat liberal in the things we do and say, particularly in relation to migration.

I want to see our spokespeople saying that immigrants make us a stronger, better country, are net contributors to both the exchequer and our wider social life, and that in a liberal, plural society, and we are just about still a liberal society, the presence of another culture  does not have to threaten yours.

I want them to bang the drum for human rights, both in law and spirit. I want them to say proudly and firmly that people have a right to seek asylum, and that this right comes from the same laws and conventions that protect everyone who was born here. I want them to say that to claim asylum you have to physically show up, and that is harder to do by conventional routes since the Tory government shut a lot of them down.

I want them to say that if we leave the ECHR, which I fear Starmer and Cooper are now privately toying with, everybody in this country will be less safe. I want them to cite Tony Benn – a good civil libertarian, whatever our other differences with him – saying that how a government treats refugees is instructive of how it would treat the rest of us if it could get away with it.

I want them to bang on about how swapping human rights for a British Bill of Rights means your statutory standing and privileges are based on your citizenship, which, however rarely it might happen, can be revoked. Ask Sajid Javid, he did it. 

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights
  • Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed
  • Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax
  • Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”
  • Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights

Responding to Reform’s press conference this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don’t have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools.

Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave. Doing so would only make it harder for each of us as individuals to hold the government to account and stop it trampling on our freedoms.

On Zia Yusuf’s comments regarding paying the Taliban to take back Afghan migrants, Daisy Cooper added:

Reform’s Taliban tribute plan would send British taxpayers’ cash to fund their oppressive regime, fuelling the persecution of Afghan women and children and betraying our brave Armed Forces who sacrificed so much fighting the Taliban. Clearly British values mean nothing to Farage and his band of plastic patriots.

Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed

Responding to the news that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde MP said:

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems need to be less nice, more radical says Politics Home article

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 27th July 2025 - 4:44 pm

An article on Politics Home suggests that some activists want to see us using similar tactics to Reform UK to get noticed.

Based on snippets from the Social Liberal Forum conference last weekend, and an interview with Bobby Dean, the article provides some useful insight into discussions happening not just in St Albans but across the party.

I’m repeatedly hearing people who want us to stop hand-wringing and actually stand up for our values. Abstentions in Parliament on issues where we should take a stance come in for particular disapproval.

I’m still seething from our response to Keir Starmer’s disgraceful speech on immigration, which even he admits he regrets, which basically amounted to “we need to train British people to do jobs.”  We should have been much more robust, as I said at the time:

We should ride a coach and horses through Labour’s plans and we should be bold. We should not give a damn about what the Daily Mail says or thinks.

We should shout about the benefits of being an open, liberal, generous-spirited country and we should not put up with yet another Government failing to meet the needs of our communities by investing enough in public services and housing and then using people who choose this country to live as scapegoats for their failure.  We need big picture emotional language that reflects our values as Liberal Democrats. It’s time to challenge the language of prejudice with good, solid practical ideas that will improve the quality of our lives.

At last week’s Social Liberal Forum conference in Daisy Cooper’s St Albans constituency, our treasury spokesperson heard similar views according to Politics Home.

A Lib Dem councillor later told PoliticsHome: “What are we actually known for? People know what Reform stands for… I don’t think we would consider ourselves to be wishy-washy or centrist, but that is where lots of people have us.”

We are too nice, said one member:

“We’re too nice,” one party member exclaimed during the conference. “Nick Clegg  was unbelievably nice in the coalition, and we got screwed. It is time we start saying it how it is. We can politely say, look, that is an absolute load of bullshit.”

SLF Chair John Shreeve is quoted as saying:

Why is it that Nigel Farage, with barely any policy detail, is dictating the traffic?” he asked.

He’s doing it from a vision perspective, and we are not doing enough to promote our vision.

I think he’s getting away with it because he is not being challenged. While Labour and Conservatives pander to him, there is clear space to call him out on his nonsense. We are perfectly placed to do this and in fact have a responsibility to do so. If nobody comes out with a clear anti populist narrative, there will be a continued rightward drift in policy and government which will harm people.

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: That’s more like it, Ed!

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 21st July 2025 - 5:05 pm

I think our leader must be a regular reader of this column, or listener to my Political Frenemies podcast, or purveyor of my Twitter feed.

Because, for months now, in those outlets and more I’ve been calling for Ed to be making more of this unique political moment which gives our party the best opportunity for exponential growth since the modern founding of our party.

It had been the case, until last week, that apart from his appearance at PMQs Ed appeared to be doing comparatively little (in a public-facing sense at least); no platform speeches, not very many major media appearances, and so on.

And though, of course, I know he and our 71 other MPs are doing really important work on a host of issues; from holding this Labour government to account, to constituency work and delivering for their residents, the really harsh truth is that very little of that breaks through to the public, at least on a national level.

So it was with undiluted joy that, last week, not only did Ed do a full morning media round but then later gave a speech on a liberal approach to the economy to an audience at an Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) event in a speech entitled ‘A thriving economy in a turbulent world’, which I’m listening to whilst typing these words on this very wet Monday afternoon (certainly here in Leicestershire).

The main news story that emanated from Ed’s speech was the Lib Dem plan to halve energy bills by ‘breaking the link between gas prices and energy costs, so people can enjoy the benefits of cheap, clean power. This would halve bills and save families £870 a year on average.’

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday – When will the Lib Dem leadership defend immigration?

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 2nd June 2025 - 4:30 pm

A quote from a speech given this past week:

But let us say this clearly.
This country could not survive without immigrants. It requires immigration. This continent requires immigration if we are to prosper. I ask you. In the 1960s who drove the buses that kept this city moving.

Immigrants.

Who kept the factories running when there was labour shortages like my grandfather who worked in the Singer sowing machine factory in Clydebank?

It was immigrants.

Today when our loved ones need care be that in the NHS or our social care system who is there propping up our vital public services?

Immigrants.

When the crops need picking, the parcels need delivering, and the children need teaching who’s ready and willing to put in the hard graft?

Immigrants.

The truth is this country doesn’t just benefit from immigration, though it does.
It needs immigrants.

I’d love to be able to say that this powerful, full-throated defence of immigration and immigrants was made by a Lib Dem leader/MP/MSP etc. But it wasn’t. It was made by SNP MSP and former First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf.

And three cheers for him for what was an important, timely, and, in the current political climate, really rather brave contribution to a national conversation which often sees political leaders (current or former) on a race to the bottom of the barrel and grasping for increasingly insulting and dehumanising rhetoric which shames our nation.

When I saw the clip of Yousaf’s speech it got me thinking. When was the last time any prominent Liberal Democrat made a similarly clear, strong willed, and heartfelt defence of immigration? Anyone remember?

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Roderick Lynch

Britain is adrift, and the silence is deafening

By Roderick Lynch | Tue 20th May 2025 - 5:32 pm
I didn’t plan to write this. I’ve just come through an intensive weekend, much of it spent in hospital. And it’s from my bed, in the quiet hours between the beeping monitors and the routine checks, that I’ve had time to reflect not just on health, but on the health of this country. This is after I have witnessed two Filipino nurses spoken to and treated like something under a shoe. They did not deserve to be racially embarrassed in public, simply for stating they finished their shift three hours ago.

Racism in Britain isn’t always loud. It’s often quiet, strategic, systemic. It’s in the job you don’t get. The voice you’re asked to lower. The opportunities that somehow never arrive. I’ve seen it play out in boardrooms and back rooms, on doorsteps and in data. And I’ve watched how it’s brushed aside by a political class that either doesn’t care, or pretends not to see it.
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Chris Bowers

We must be brave on immigration – now!

By Chris Bowers | Mon 19th May 2025 - 12:30 pm

The Liberal Democrats have always been at their best when they’re brave – when we shout about things we believe in, even if they go against the current trend. Things that can tap into a seam of public opinion that is sympathetic but whose members have been wondering whether they are the only ones to think what they’re thinking.

At the end of a week that has seen Keir Starmer do his best Enoch Powell impersonation with his ‘island of strangers’ speech, we have an opportunity – nay, a responsibility – to stand up for immigrants to the UK. This is …

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Vince Cable

Dog whistles and panic about immigration

By Vince Cable | Thu 15th May 2025 - 8:52 am

Nigel Farage can congratulate himself. His party did well in recent local elections; but so did the Liberal Democrats and Reform’s support may not last.  What he can be especially pleased about is to have reduced the leaders of the Conservative and Labour parties to quivering jelly: terrified that their supporters will abandon them unless they are fed a diet of dog-whistle slogans and impractical but draconian-sounding immigration policies.

The Conservatives’ odd Soviet era obsession with planning targets for net immigration comfortably meets Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. They somehow fail to have noticed that the statistics on net migration are largely meaningless: massively inflated by overseas students who are wrongly counted as immigrants.

The Labour government’s proposals by contrast have some perfectly sensible bits. Who would seriously quarrel with the idea that policy should aim to maximise the contribution immigrants make to the UK? Or with the idea that employers should cease regarding immigrants as an excuse for not training their British labour force. There are no numerical targets: good. But why spoil it with demagogic dog-whistles about ‘an island of strangers’ or Brexit bromides about ‘taking back control’ or – worst – denouncing liberal immigration as ‘squalid’.

The political debate would benefit from more reflection on the history of immigration politics, survey data on public attitudes and rigorous research on the impacts of immigration.  I have tried to pull together this material in a Working Paper for ODI/Global.

Immigration panics are not new. At the turn of the 20th century, the populist Tory MP, William Evans-Gordon, led a movement to stop Jewish immigration from – mainly – Russia.  Crime, disease, stealing jobs: the usual.  The Balfour government was panicked into the 1905 Aliens Act whose institutionalised antisemitism so disgusted Winston Churchill that he left the Tories for the Liberals.

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The Voice

Lisa Smart on standing up to divisive politics

By The Voice | Wed 14th May 2025 - 1:55 pm

Earlier this week, Liberal Democrat MPs forced a vote on an amendment which would have allowed asylum seekers to work if they had been waiting on their decision for more than three months. Of course Labour, Tories and Reform voted against it.

Here is our Home Affairs Spokesperson Lisa Smart introducing this in Parliament.

Allowing asylum seekers to work has long been an aim of our party. In the last Parliament Christine Jardine attempted to bring in a private members bill which would implement this.

Lisa  has been writing on the party website about this week’s vote and why we need to stand up to divisive politics:

The UK has a long, proud history of welcoming newcomers – whether people seeking to build their lives here, or refugees fleeing war and persecution.

People from all over the world have greatly enriched our economy, our culture and our communities. For me, I’m immensely proud that our country took in my Nan aged 18 when she was fleeing the Nazis in 1939. I’m also really pleased the surgeon who performed my Dad’s kidney transplant brought his skills and talents to the UK having been born elsewhere.

We must do everything in our power to protect this legacy – not least after everything the Conservatives did to trash it.

They closed down safe and legal routes for refugees, putting more power in the hands of traffickers. They allowed the asylum backlog to balloon on their watch, trapping asylum seekers in limbo for months or even years. And they threatened the fundamental right to asylum with their cruel Illegal Migration Act and failed Rwanda scheme.

Now, the Labour government has a real opportunity to fix this mess and start building a more compassionate, effective system. But sadly, they have so far failed to bring forward the positive change that people deserve.

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Mark Valladares

12 May 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 13th May 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Lib Dems table humble address to force Government to publish impact assessment of UK-US deal
  • Care Workers: Change is urgently needed to fix the mess the Conservatives made
  • Liberal Democrats call on Government to “futureproof” infrastructure following reports of Underground failures
  • Rennie to push amendments to housing bill

Lib Dems table humble address to force Government to publish impact assessment of UK-US deal

The Liberal Democrats will table a humble address in Parliament this week to force the Government to publish its impact assessments of the agreement with the US announced last week.

The Government has so far not published documents such as impact assessments on key British industries following the deal, leaving many in the dark as to what ministers have given up in exchange for Trump’s lowering of tariffs.

The deal allows more American beef into the UK market, as well as setting a limit on the number of British cars that can be exported to the US before being hit with 25% tariffs. It is not yet clear what impact this will have on these sectors as the Government has not published the relevant analysis.

The Liberal Democrat motion aims to force the Government to publish these details. Humble Address motions have been successfully used in the past, including in 2017 when the Government was forced to publish an impact assessment of Brexit on the economy.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling on the government to prepare plans in case Trump reneges on the deal or imposes further tariffs in the future, given his record of doing so to other countries he has signed trade deals with, including Canada.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Government needs to publish the details behind this agreement so those impacted aren’t left in the dark, from Britain’s world-class farmers to all those working in businesses still being hit by Trump’s tariffs.

People are deeply worried about Donald Trump’s attempts to bully the UK and his record of breaking his own deals.

We’ve seen how Trump has trampled over deals he signed with our allies like Canada. We cannot allow him to do the same to Britain. The Prime Minister needs to recognise this and prepare a plan B if Trump tears up this agreement or imposes new tariffs in future.

The Liberal Democrats will keep standing up for Britain and holding this Government to account over their dealings with Trump.

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Caron Lindsay

Dear Keir, there are other options than pandering to prejudice

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 12th May 2025 - 10:59 am

I feel absolutely sick to my stomach this morning.

I really need to get out of the habit of thinking that Labour Ministers will somehow have more sense, or that their values will align more closely with mine even if they get stuff wrong sometimes. That mindset only leads to crushing disappointment.

We have had decades of the right wing press drip-feeding prejudice against immigrants. All political parties, including ours to a certain extent, have failed to stand up against this and unashamedly make the positive case for immigration. This has been remarkably stupid given that we are living in a world that has been getting smaller. People fall in love with people from other countries. If every country pulls up the drawbridge on immigration, that has a huge impact on their freedom to live their lives as they please.

It’s been incredibly depressing to see, particularly over the last decade, politicians in parties who should know better taking on board the talking points of the far right. Rather than, you know, invest in public services so that everyone can have a decent standard of living, they blame immigration for all the country’s ills, poisoning the minds of the public.

We reached a new low this morning.  I’ve heard Labour referred to as the Red Tories before. Today they are basically Red Reform. Starmer is no better than Farage. A couple of weeks ago, Farage had a go,  out loud in our Parliament, about “cultures alien to ours.” This was a comment that Christine Jardine said made her blood run cold in her Scotsman column last week. 

This week I heard the leader of Reform proclaim confidently in the Commons that the problem with immigration was that it was bringing people here with cultures not compatible with our own. I felt my blood run cold.

That sort of language used to be, and should be still, unthinkable. We cannot accept it, we cannot run from fighting for the rights of minorities. It’s time for us to stand up to be counted. Like our grandparents did.

Why does it take an opposition MP to make this point? Why did our Prime Minister not make mincemeat of Farage and his horrible agenda right there, right then?

It’s the least we could expect.

But, no, this morning, he apes it, saying we are:

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Lucy Nethsingha

We can start to improve social care by tackling attitudes towards migrants

By Lucy Nethsingha | Wed 12th March 2025 - 11:12 am

If ever there’s an issue – or a sub-section of a broader issue – that sums up the sense that the UK is broken, even eight months after a new government was supposed to set a new direction, it’s social care.

The crisis in social care has been recognised for decades, but successive governments have failed to tackle it, and it’s getting rapidly worse. This is bad enough on its own, but it has two serious knock-on effects: it reduces the effectiveness of the NHS as it cannot release from hospitals some patients who are fit to leave but have nowhere to go; and it further drags down the reputation of local government, which doesn’t have the resources to deal with social care and sinks ever lower in the public’s estimation. Add the effects of Brexit, Covid, the cost-of-living crisis and a toxic debate on immigration, and you see why the situation with social care is worse now than it has ever been.

So what do we do? Well, a lot of money would help – most solutions to the social care problem require money, but, let’s face it, the kind of public spending that just isn’t feasible at the moment. So we have to look in other directions.

There have been four major shocks to the social care system in recent years: Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit, and Britain’s attitude towards immigration. The first two are factors largely outside our control. We can’t undo the loss of so many NHS and care staff due to the impact of Covid, and the cost of living crisis, coupled with repeated rises to the Real Living Wage and NI rates for employers, has sent the cost of staff rocketing, with many care companies struggling to compete for permanent staff and often forced to pay high wages to agency personnel.

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Peter Wrigley

We need to stand up for our Liberal values on immigrants

By Peter Wrigley | Tue 18th February 2025 - 11:33 am

After a week in in which both Conservatives and Labour have competed to outbid each other in inhumanity and sheer nastiness towards immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, the Liberal Democrat policy makes heartening reading.  Here are a few extracts from our 2024 Manifesto:

The UK has a proud history of welcoming newcomers – whether people seeking to build their lives here, or refugees fleeing war and persecution. People from all over the world have greatly enriched our economy, our culture and our communities.

Liberal Democrats are fighting for a fair, effective immigration system that treats everyone with dignity and respect.

We will:

  • End the Conservatives’ Hostile Environment and invest instead in officers, training and technology to tackle smuggling, trafficking and modern slavery.
  • Lift the ban on asylum seekers working if they have been waiting for a decision for more than three months, enabling them to support themselves, integrate in their communities and contribute to the economy.
  • Exempt NHS and care staff from the £1,000-a-year Immigration Skills Charge, and reverse the Conservatives’ ban on care workers bringing partners and children.
  • Reduce the fee for registering a child as a British citizen from £1,214 to the cost of administration.
  • Overhaul the Immigration Rules to make them simpler, clearer and fairer, and ensure greater parliamentary scrutiny of future changes.
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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 8th September 2024 - 10:28 am

Gaza

In a month it will be first anniversary of the start of the Gaza War. There is no end in sight.

The two sides – Israel and Hamas—have two diametrically opposed positions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will accept nothing less than the total destruction of Hamas. He might reluctantly accept a temporary ceasefire if the Israeli Defence Forces or Mossad manage to assassinate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. That would enable him to retrieve at least some of the hostages. But once those hostages are returned expect the attacks to resume.

Hamas leader Sinwar is holding out for nothing less than a permanent ceasefire. This means that at least a Hamas remnant would remain intact for Palestinians to build on. Netanyahu would regard such a result as failure.

The American, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators meanwhile are trying to bridge these apparently irreconcilable positions with a diplomatic agreement couched in terms of “constructive ambiguity” which allows both sides to claim concessions, if not total victory.

The cost of failure is high. At stake is not just the plight of millions of Gazans and the future security of the state of Israel. Hanging over the talks is the threat of a wider regional war. A slight misstep by Israel, Iran, Hezbollah or the Houthis can easily set off a major conflagration.

Ironically, escalation can work to the advantage of both Netanyahu and Sinwar. From the point of view of the Hamas leader, a full-throated Middle East conflict would draw Israeli forces away from Gaza to attack Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon. There is also the possibility that an escalation could pull the Arabs off the fence and onto the Palestinian side.

Looking at the advantages of escalation through Israeli eyes, Netanyahu has been pressing the US for some time to join him in a direct attack on Iran which he sees as the fount of all of Israel’s problems. The Israeli prime minister was explicit in stating that goal in his recent address to a joint session of congress.

In the meantime, Netanyahu is no nearer to reaching his goal of the total destruction of Hamas and Yahya Sinwar is no nearer to admitting total defeat.

Immigration

There is a new forest of placards at Trump rallies: “Mass Deportation Now!” The same cry is being heard in Spain at Vox rallies. In France when the National Rally gathers. It is barked by some members of Britain’s Reform Party. In Germany The far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) has this week managed to gain control of the East German Lander of Thuringia.

And it is not just the far-right that is pushing the anti-immigrant line. Joe Biden’s tough new executive orders have dramatically reduced the number of illegal immigrants crossing America’ southern border. Stefan Lofven The leader of the centre-left, previously pro-immigrant Swedish Social Democrats recently reversed party policy to declare: “The Swedish people can feel safe in the knowledge that Social Democrats will stand up for a strict immigration policy.”

The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Serbia, the Czech Republic… Virtually all of the Western world has turned anti-immigrant. Opposing immigration wins votes. Backing deportation is a bit iffy, but the debate is moving in that direction. The problem is that mass deportation is wholly impractical.

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Ruvi Ziegler

The August 2024 riots: an opportunity to turn a page in Britain’s flawed immigration debate

By Ruvi Ziegler | Mon 19th August 2024 - 3:39 pm

The beginning of August was a heated period in the UK (on this occasion not attributable to climate change). A weekend-long spree of violence across several towns and cities, mainly in the North of England, saw rioters attempt to set fire to hotels housing asylum-seekers and to a mosque, attack police with bricks, set up ‘checkpoints’ where non-white drivers were stopped, and abuse Muslim women by stripping off their hijabs. The pretext for these riots was misinformation about the identity of the perpetrator of a horrendous knife attack in the city of Southport which killed three young girls. As it happens, the recently-turned-18 year old man was born in Wales to Rwandan Christian parents.

On Monday morning, a message identifying offices of refugee and migrant support groups and law firms as potential targets for a concerted attack was circulated, prompting communities throughout the UK to congregate in large numbers to fend off potential attacks. Many of those prosecuted so far have been charged with violent disorder, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. The clampdown on rioters prompted a claim that it supposedly reflects ‘two tier policing’: lenient on some, harsh on other. Yet, just a week before the August riots, several ‘Just Stop Oil’ activists were sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment for holding a zoom planning meeting for blocking the M25. Indeed the last time the UK experienced mass riots, in the summer of 2011, a certain Keir Starmer, now Prime Minister, was Director of Public Prosecutions. Those riots were prompted by the killing of a black man, Mark Duggan, by the police; on that occasion, most of those arrested, convicted, and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences were black and minority ethnic (BAME).

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 13 May 2024 – and then there were two…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 13th May 2024 - 7:40 am

Natalie Elphicke? Really?

Well, you have to admire whoever it is in Labour who is handling Tory defectors – they’ve managed to smuggle out one of the more unlikely “converts” to their cause. And, if you really wanted to engender a sense of paranoia amongst the Conservative leadership, what better than to recruit someone like Natalie? Is anyone with a blue rosette above suspicion now?

But, beyond the Westminster bubble, how does this look? What message does it send in terms of principles? How big does a “big tent” get to be and still retain any sense of exclusivity?

Now, I do get it. We’ve welcomed a few controversial recruits over the years – I won’t name names and you’ll all have your own ideas – but in most cases, there was a big political principle at stake. And whilst, as I’ve noted in the past, expecting any new recruit to sign up to every dot and comma of our policies is naive at best, it should be reasonable to expect a significant philosophical overlap.

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Michael Wang

Focus on migration Part 1 – Visa Rule Changes

By Michael Wang | Fri 8th December 2023 - 10:45 am

It is a sure sign of an incumbent government in desperate straits that they turn towards anti-migration policies come election time – and so we see the deeply damaging tactic once again from the Conservatives with their recently announced migration policies. I have faith that the British public will not fall for it. In this article I will focus on the changes to the visa rules recently announced by Cleverley. In future articles I hope to discuss developments with the asylum and Rwanda policy.

The increased family visa income requirement

In April 2023, the median full-time UK income was £34,963 (ONS). The new income threshold for family visa is £38,700. This means that more than half of hard-working UK individuals would not be able to bring their loved ones to live together in the UK. I suppose the government is saying one of two things with this announcement. Either one should be punished for failing to display the proper affection for Britannia, having fallen in love with a foreigner or if you are not an upper management or finance type working in London, then you don’t deserve to live together with your loved ones.  Or thirdly, you should emigrate from the UK to live with your family, which ironically will further increase the net migration figure. This is an intolerable attack on the private lives of all but the highest-earners. 

The increased work visa income requirement

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Michal Siewniak

What if the Home Secretary is right?

By Michal Siewniak | Wed 27th September 2023 - 3:33 pm

As someone who was brought up under communism in Poland, I never dreamt that Eastern Europe could change so much in such a relatively short period of time. I never thought that I would be able to travel or work freely in another European state. I never knew what diversity is. I rarely had an opportunity to talk to people from other countries or nationalities. But I remember that I always had a strong desire to meet people of other ethnic or faith origins. I remember that as a teenager back home, I participated in various events which marked the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This was a very special experience which allowed me to learn more about other churches and see that ‘unity in diversity’ is possible. Visiting the Lutheran Church made me realise that despite some dogmatic & theological differences, we all pray to the same God. This, as well as many other experiences has shaped me as a person which I only realised when I moved to Britain.

Living in Croatia for almost 4 years was also an ‘eye-opener’. It was in Croatia where I had a chance to see a mosque. It is Croatia where I had a real opportunity not only to read about individuals from other nationalities but to live side by side with people from other cultures and religions. I really felt so ‘normal’ and beautiful. 

All these experiences prepared me for Britain which in many ways can be called the ‘laboratory of diversity’. My job in the charity sector and my role as a Councillor give me plenty of opportunities to meet many wonderful people and enable me to build bridges rather than walls. It has also helped me to break down various barriers and recognise the importance of diversity. Settling in the UK, trying to be part of the local community, encouraged me to get to know other cultures and people of other faith groups. The whole experience has broadened my horizons and it made me a more tolerant and rounded person.

Why is it so important now? I do think that the polarisation of the political systems, inability to listen or talk to each other, seeing everything in ‘black & white’ colours means that diversity as well as many other things are seen in a deformed way. This means that our communities are divided and our friends and neighbours are often ‘presented’ to us a threat, invaders or burdens. This hurts many and the healing process to rebuild trust between groups and communities may take a long time. I often wonder whether media and access to social media platforms have changed our attitude towards diversity. Do we, too often, put too much emphasis on what divides rather than unites us? 

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Tom Reeve

Reality barges into Small Boats Week

By Tom Reeve | Mon 14th August 2023 - 11:55 am

As commemorative weeks go, it’s been a bad one for Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman. They waited all year for Small Boats Week only to have it spoiled by Leftie Lawyers, so-called fire safety ‘experts’ and an outbreak of lethal bacteria. 

On top of that, they suddenly had half the country shouting at them about human rights, compassion and other foreign ideas after six people drowned in the Channel. 

Never mind that they had done what their base wanted and blocked safe passages for refugees, given the French state-of-the-art kit to harass the migrants and even bought the immigrants a yacht. 

Ok, not exactly a yacht but close enough, right? They spent £1.6bn and then, inexplicably, no one wanted to move into their Barge of Death. 

You have to feel for them – no one had ever organised a Small Boats Week before, so they were in uncharted waters. Even if they’d had a map, how could they be expected to know what ‘Danger – Rocks’ meant, let alone ‘Danger – Moral and Ethical Hazard’? 

You may accuse them of setting sail without, a skipper, a rudder or even a destination, but what you have to understand about the Tories is that their approach to disaster planning is quite literal. 

Whether you are talking about the Asylum Crisis, the Sewage Crisis, the Housing Crisis, the Cost of Living Crisis or the Climate Crisis, the government knows that failing to plan is the first step in winging it. It gives ministers, backbenchers and tabloid hacks free rein to make up policy on the hoof – what could possibly go wrong? 

You may fret that a backlog of 175,000 asylum cases, costing the government £6m a day in temporary accommodation fees, is a sure-fire indication that something has gone wrong with their immigration policy, but the government knows it’s money well spent. 

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