Sadiya Ansari is an author and journalist who covers migration and the far-right. <\/p>\n
You\u2019d be forgiven for thinking it was Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage \u2013 and not British Prime Minister Keir Starmer \u2013 who warned his country<\/a> earlier this week that without dramatic cuts to immigration, Britain risked becoming \u201can island of strangers.\u201d As many pointed out, these words \u2013 from a Labour prime minister, no less \u2013 appeared to echo an inflammatory 1968 speech<\/a> from Conservative MP Enoch Powell, who said<\/a> that white Britons would find \u201cthemselves made strangers in their own country.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Starmer denied that his comments were intended as an echo. But the sentiment, perhaps, isn\u2019t so different: that migration is the problem, responsible for much of what ails the country \u2013 in this case, pressure on housing and public services. While ideological coherence is apparently too much to ask for from political parties, it\u2019s almost a bit boring that these comments from a centre-left leader followed Mr. Farage\u2019s populist party securing significant wins<\/a> in local elections earlier this month. And the backlash was swift, even within Mr. Starmer\u2019s own party: \u201cChasing the tail of the right risks taking our country down a very dark path,\u201d said Labour MP Sarah Owen.<\/p>\n The spirit of the British PM\u2019s message might sound familiar. Before various threats to our sovereignty from our belligerent southern neighbour, immigration was top of mind for Canadians in the federal election, especially the idea that there was too much<\/a> of it under Justin Trudeau. That led Mr. Trudeau himself to pledge cuts of 21 per cent<\/a> last fall. And while Prime Minister Mark Carney has been careful with how he has framed the issue, he takes on leadership at a time when political parties across the West that historically have been supportive of migration are now courting support on the further-right. <\/p>\n How a country treats its minority groups is a litmus test for the strength of a democracy. As Donald Trump ignores the rule of law to carry out deportations<\/a>, the rest of the liberal democratic world should remember what we lose as societies \u2013 and who we put in danger \u2013 when governments give in to intolerance to score political points. <\/p>\n For starters, it often leads governments to harm their own countries in the long run. Most Western countries undeniably need immigration to support economic growth, yet moral panic consistently erupts when headlines describe \u201crecord levels\u201d in pursuit of these goals. Britain, for instance, hit a record in net migration at 906,000 in 2023<\/a>, a year in which 15 per cent of the population was foreign-born<\/a> \u2013 still a lower proportion than Canada and Australia. Net migration then dropped by approximately 178,000 the following year<\/a>, yet Mr. Starmer\u2019s white paper describes Britain as a \u201cone-nation experiment in open borders\u201d \u2013 even though the country ended its open-border agreement with the EU following Brexit. The proposed policy changes promise a \u201cfair\u201d and \u201cselective\u201d process focusing on acceptable immigrants: \u201chigh-skilled workers\u201d who pledge to learn English. <\/p>\n Some of Britain\u2019s crucial shortages are in so-called \u201clow-skilled\u201d roles, especially care workers. Yet, as part of the reforms, the government proposed ending recruiting health and care workers abroad, to reduce migration and prioritize local workers. \u201cThe NHS and the care sector would have collapsed long ago without the thousands of workers who\u2019ve come to the UK from overseas,\u201d Christina McAnea, the general secretary of the country\u2019s largest union representing health and care workers, told the Guardian<\/a>. <\/p>\n Mr. Starmer rejected claims these sweeping changes could affect the British economy, arguing that it has been stagnant over the last five years. But as Politico\u2019s Emilio Casalicchio and Noah Keate put it: \u201cThe same half-decade happens to coincide with the U.K. leaving the EU and suffering a pandemic, but who\u2019s counting?\u201d<\/p>\n Canada faces similar labour shortages<\/a>, and its permanent routes to immigration have always favoured high-skilled workers, which have long left many with insecure temporary status. But Mr. Carney has said that he plans to further reduce temporary migration<\/a> by reducing visas for international students and those coming here through the temporary foreign workers program, which Amnesty International<\/a> has called \u201cinherently exploitative.\u201d And when it comes to temporary foreign workers, who are only hired if their employers can prove they are needed in this country, the focus isn\u2019t on providing them with more secure status. <\/p>\n Britain is not the most extreme example of using right-wing rhetoric to shape immigration policy. But it represents a trap that Canada\u2019s own left-of-centre government could easily fall into: papering over chronic mismanagement of files that affect all citizens by scapegoating immigration. And that would just borrow the most tired tactic from the furthest fringes of the right: blaming, rather than governing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sadiya Ansari is an author and journalist who covers migration and the far-right. 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