Tag: immigration

  • Are humanitarian visas the answer to finally solving small boat Channel crossings?

    I was asked to speak to this question at a recent event organised by Patricia Nabuco-Martuscelli, and here’s how I answered.  The UK’s preferred mode of refugee reception has always been to offer safe passage and settlement to particular nationalities during particular conflicts on a case by case basis. These have usually been short term schemes -think of…

  • How much is the UK government spending on contracts in the border industry?

    How much is the UK government spending on contracts in the border industry?

    This article, with the Chanel Crossings team, was originally published in Open Democracy in April 2025. The UK government says smugglers profit off human desperation in the English Channel. But we, a team of researchers, believe they’re not the only ones. Our work has found that private companies have received more than £3.5bn of public…

  • What are Labour’s plans for asylum, and will they work?

    What are Labour’s plans for asylum, and will they work?

    Small boat Channel crossings are one of the big issues of the 2024 UK election. They have been the main justification for radical changes to UK asylum policy over the past three years, and the response of the current government has rightly received a lot of attention. But with the Labour Party likely to win…