For many years, perhaps since the Corn Law debates, then the age of empire, and, later, the world wars, Britain has stood broadly on the side of “open.” I don’t think we can take this predisposition for granted any more. In fact, there is a risk that voters will soon start to make different choices—voting for a bit more protectionism, a bit less foreign aid, a bit less Europe and feeling a bit less comfortable about strangers.
This is the challenge for progressives today: to make the case that “carefully open” is good. To give people a fair chance to succeed and a sense that the old rules, laws and traditions won’t be thrown away. In other words, in this new world, Britain still needs to feel like home.
Immigration and citizenship policy is fundamental to this debate. This is partly because immigration is such a visible sign of change. As the pollsters say, it becomes a “vortex issue,” sucking in concerns about all kinds of change and social disruption.
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