In 2016, the Leave campaign won the Brexit referendum under the immortal slogan ‘Take Back Control’. It worked because everyone knew what it meant: if we left the EU, Britain would regain sovereignty over her laws, trade policy, and most importantly, her borders. Amongst the 52% of the country that voted Leave, immigration was the largest single concern. After three years of gridlock from Remainer parliaments, Boris Johnson campaigned in 2019 under another three-word slogan, to “Get Brexit Done”. The stonking mandate he won again reflected the Brexit coalition’s desire for low and controlled immigration. “Overall numbers will come down,” pledged the Tories’ winning manifesto.
Yet what happened was precisely the opposite. After a brief fall during the 2020 Covid lockdowns, immigration skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, with more than a million visas being issued annually. From 2021-2023, Britain added three cities the size of Birmingham to its population in as many years. Far from being economic rocket fuel, the majority of these arrivals under our post-Brexit “points-based system” were low skilled, with many bringing dependents. According to Karl Williams at the Centre for Policy Studies, just 5% of visas went to migrants that could be expected to be net tax contributors. Brexit voters unhappy with demographic change had wanted lower immigration and for it to be from more culturally aligned countries; instead, the numbers more than doubled, with arrivals coming largely from outside Europe.
It was the ultimate betrayal. Today, this unwanted immigration flood is known
