The Immigration Legacy of Tony Blair

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The Immigration Legacy of Tony Blair

May 10, 2007

Feature

By Will Somerville

Elected prime minister of the United Kingdom in May 1997, Tony Blair of the UK Labour party announced in October 2004 that he did not wish to stand for a fourth term. In effect, he had publicly announced his resignation, albeit with an extraordinarily long notice period. This finally came to an end with his resignation on May 10, 2007, which brought to an end over 10 years' service in Number 10 Downing Street.

Commentators have already leapt to define his time in office, but few have noted one of his legacies that will likely last at least a generation. Namely, Blair leaves behind an immigration system that has been fundamentally reshaped: migrationis now "managed" to favor migrants coming for work and study.

Migration has been a consistent feature of the policy and political landscape in the United Kingdom over the last decade. Concerns have ranged from asylum seekers to unprecedented economic migration from Eastern Europe. The monthly MORI poll of "the most important issues facing Britain" has consistently recorded immigration among the public's top concerns. The most recent figures, from April 2007, showed immigration to be the public's second most important issue, behind crime.

Throughout this period, but particularly from 2001, Labour put migration at the center of its energetic legislative program. In the 10-year period under Blair's stewardship, Labour passed four migration-related Parliamentary Acts (laws), and a fifth Parliamentary Bill (a draft law) is currently in the final stages of