Immigration Exposing the Failures of UK Politicians
In an article I published with the ‘Arena’ in March[1]I wrote that ‘the Labour party’s handling of the war and energy crisis could indirectly affect the outcome of the May elections in Britain’. Almost three months after writing this article, the editor sent me a message saying what you had said happened. The UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, announced his resignation. Keir Starmer led the Government for almost two years after achieving a landslide victory over the Conservative Party, which was in power for 14 years.
What I didn’t know back then is that Andy Burnham, who was sworn in as an MP on the day of the PM’s resignation this week, is the politician who set himself the goal to become the next Labour leader and UK Prime Minister. Andy Burnham’s landslide victory over Reform UK in the Makerfield by-election paved the way to achieve this goal. Burnham has defeated the same party that has decimated the former ruling Conservative Party. Since 2024, many Conservative MPs have defected to Reform UK, including Reform’s Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick.
The impact of the conflict in the Middle East on UK politics and society is no longer minor. Despite the ongoing Iran-US peace talks, the situation on the ground in the Middle East and in the UK remains difficult. The peace deal is fragile. During the weekend, on 20 June, Hezbollah fired 176 projectiles at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Five Israeli soldiers were killed in multiple incidents.
The cost of energy, mortgages and food is hitting households across the UK, and the poorest hardest. In her statement to Parliament [2]Chancellor Rachel Reeves highlighted that “the conflict in the Middle East poses a significant challenge to the world economy – including our own”.
Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East have also created a problem of a growing number of refugees fleeing from war zones and seeking a new horizon and resettlement in European countries. The withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, in what is known as ‘Brexit’, left Britain divided and weakened its economy. According to the Centre of Population Change, between the Brexit referendum in June 2016 and the actual withdrawal of the UK from the EU in 2020, there was a period of uncertainty about what the migration policy would be after Brexit[3].
On June 21, 2026, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, posted on X: ‘Brexit has cost Britain billions. It’s imperative we rejoin the EU’[4]. As I said, ‘Brexit’ left Britain divided. Not everyone agrees with Sadiq Khan. New research published this month by Prof Alan Manning demonstrates that, whereas Brexit was supposed to limit immigration, it did the opposite. The research concludes that Brexit has given the UK less control over asylum and unauthorised migration (‘the types of migration that trouble voters the most’). The research also refers to the Boris Wave, which describes the dramatic increase in net migration and the surge of non-EU immigration into the UK that followed Brexit[5].
Earlier this month, Rt Hon John Healey MP wrote in his resignation letter: ‘We came into government, recognising Britain faced a new era of threat which demanded a new era for defence’. Indeed, UK citizens fear. This fear is tangible and increasing the alienation between foreigners and natives. The UK Government announced that asylum seekers arriving in the UK will be settled in residential homes across the country.
Many UK citizens say they feel unsafe. The level of alienation between the asylum seekers and the native is high. This week, media reports suggest that around 10,000 asylum seekers are expected to move into residential properties across Britain. This piece of news immediately created chaos. Claire Moore, who lives in a village that will become home for dozens of asylum seekers, told the BBC News in a response: “We don’t know who they are, where they’ve come from, why they’re here, whether they have criminal records, we don’t know anything like that” [6].
Based on my professional experience, working with government bodies researching refugees and asylum seekers, I don’t necessarily agree with Claire Moore and other villagers. But, most importantly, the Government’s immigration policy creates fear among citizens, and this problem must be solved.
Opposition leaders criticise the UK’s Government policy of ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’. The Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said his party would ban foreign nationals from living in social housing, under Reform’s policy of abolishing Indefinite Leave to Remain. In an interview with GB News (March 2), Nigel Farage said: “If there are refugees leaving Iran, they will be housed in the Middle East. We can’t take any more refugees”[7]. Britain braces for a surge in Iranian asylum seekers. Iran has been the most common country of nationality among asylum applicants and small boat arrivals to the UK in recent years.
The vision of Andy Burnham MP focuses on revolutionising the immigration system, Whitehall reforms, and promoting reindustrialisation. The new MP says that the UK Government must tackle illegal migration, and the immigration system must be fair -migrants can’t be housed only in deprived areas, as the housing system should support fair distribution across the country.
Across the UK, there are neighbourhoods where most of the population are migrants who speak English as a second language. Many of them don’t speak English at all. Data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in 2025 reveals the most deprived neighbourhoods, for example, in Greater Manchester[8].
Post-industrial areas like Manchester, historically a home for the coal mining industry, can be revived by reindustrialisation. To strive toward permanent solutions, skilled migrants should be able to work in the South and the North. Ideally, these reforms would contribute to the UK economy. Illegal migration and hostility between communities still pose an obstacle and a risk.
However, the UK is facing a broad range of problems, beyond immigration – the focus of the Reform UK manifesto. Problems of the cost of living, stagnation, health services, and inequalities. Having said that, many of these problems are the consequence of a high level of migration. To strengthen social cohesion, the next Prime Minister will need to deliver solutions and mitigate the economic impacts of the Middle East conflict.
[1] https://www.eng.arenajournal.org.il/single-post/halperin-uk-iran-war-eng
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-rachel-reeves-statement-to-parliament
[3]https://www.cpc.ac.uk/res/docs/2023_PB71_Navigating_uncertainty_Understanding_the_impact_of_Brexit.pdf
[4] https://x.com/SadiqKhan/status/2069359280906481671;
[5]https://www.cpc.ac.uk/res/docs/2023_PB71_Navigating_uncertainty_Understanding_the_impact_of_Brexit.pdf
[6] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9ly7x3yz7o
[7] https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1950993075786101
[8] https://deprivation.communities.gov.uk/about-your-neighbourhood/E01005286