I was one of the sceptics when the Leave campaign promised that Brexit would have opened opportunities to Commonwealth migrants. But maybe some Tories were really fine with getting the visa-fee-paying, No Recourse to Public Funds, low-right migrants in place of EU citizens /1
I think the Conservative policy was implicitly 'get the same amount of people in, but with less rights' (especially if Brexit is added to the calculation). Attacking asylum seekers was the way to offset politically the overall numbers. Labour seems to think they need to be harsh on both fronts.
Dec 1, 2025 11:23EU citizens that came with the freedom of movement and equal rights protections. And apparently the performative cruelty of the Rwanda Plan and dismantling asylum were considered enough to balance having overall numbers that were higher than before.
Paradoxically the Tories could have tried to court the 'Borisvawe' (or at least the Commonwealth component) as their potential electors (and they would definitely need some). Instead they made up ideas on who to kick out.
The current government on the other hand seems to think they need to play hard on overall numbers, asylum, rights, settlement and citizenship all at the same. Why they cannot at least limit themselves on a single point as the previous governments did, I cannot fathom it
