Category Archives: Immigration

Targets and Political Trust: Findings from our ESRC Project

Posted on October 27, 2016 by

In a slightly longer blog than usual, I set out the main findings from our recently completed ESRC project Targets and performance indicators have become ubiquitous as techniques of governance. Governments and public service agencies have employed an array of … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, Research & Policy, Targets | Leave a comment

Seeing Illegal Immigrants

Posted on September 30, 2016 by

We have now officially launched our new ESRC project on ‘Seeing Illegal Immigrants: State Monitoring and Political Rationality’. The two-year long ESRC-funded project focuses on the ways states have ‘seen’ unauthorized migrants in France, Germany and the UK from the late 1960s to … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, Symbolic politics | 1 Comment

How politically viable are proposals for an EU immigration ’emergency stop’?

Posted on August 4, 2016 by

Arguably the major stumbling block in Brexit negotiations concerns the relationship between membership of the Single Market, and the acceptance of EU provisions on the free movement of workers. A number of commentators have already analysed the options, and weighed up … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Immigration | 2 Comments

Pro-Leave proposals on immigration risk creating large-scale irregular migration

Posted on June 19, 2016 by

One of the more curious features of the EU referendum campaign is how the Leave campaign has positioned itself on immigration. The attempt to mobilise support for Brexit by tapping – and revving up – fears about immigration has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Immigration | 1 Comment

Why Brexit won’t reduce immigration to the UK

Posted on May 30, 2016 by

Migration has become one of the most prominent issues in the debate on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), indeed some commentators are suggesting it might determine the outcome of the upcoming Referendum. However, the arguments about how Brexit … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Immigration | 2 Comments

Implementing Targets in UK Government: A Multiple Streams Approach

Posted on May 5, 2016 by

It has long been observed that policies can get lost in implementation. The best intended legislation or programme adopted by central government can get reinterpreted, distorted or even subverted when applied at local level, or across different areas of government. … Continue reading →

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Can debates on immigration be ‘evidence-based’? And should they be?

Posted on March 18, 2016 by

This blog is based on a talk given at the Royal Geography Society on 22 March 2016. We often hear the view that debates on immigration should be more ‘evidence based’: that they should be informed by expert knowledge and … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, Research & Policy, Targets | Leave a comment