Britain Thinks Net Migration is Rising – When it has Actually Fallen (British Future, May 2026)

What does it mean for our politics when the public’s perception of migration is the near-exact opposite of reality? This short piece from British Future unpacks new ONS data alongside their annual Immigration Attitudes Tracker, revealing a stark disconnect between a sharply falling net migration figure and a public that overwhelmingly believes the opposite is true. A timely reminder of how far removed the immigration debate can be from the underlying facts.

An Analysis of the Asylum System (UK Parliament, June 2026)

What happens when a government department cannot say, with any confidence, how many people are in its own asylum system or where they are? This detailed report from the Committee of Public Accounts examines the Home Office’s management of the end-to-end asylum system, drawing on evidence from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and MHCLG. The report finds a system beset by fragmented accountability, poor data, and a pattern of short-term fixes that repeatedly shift pressure from one part of the system to another, concluding that departments still lack a shared understanding of what the asylum system is trying to achieve.

How Can ‘Race’ Unbox Migration? (Migration Unboxed, June 2026)

What happens when we acknowledge that racial discourses are not a byproduct of migration politics but central to how the category of “migrant” is produced? This 36-minute episode brings together Cat Ramírez (UC Santa Cruz) and Bridget Anderson (MMB) to examine the US and UK/European contexts, tackling questions of labour, precarity, assimilation, and integration. The conversation asks whether even well-intentioned advocacy for “migrant communities” can inadvertently perpetuate the very racial stereotyping it seeks to challenge. An exploration of how race structures who is seen as belonging and who is seen as a threat.

Mahmood Questioned by Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (House of Lords, July 2026)

Why is the government pressing ahead with a 10-year settlement route when the Lords Committee has warned it may be unlawful? This two-hour session sees Shabana Mahmood face questions on the Immigration and Asylum Bill, including plans to replace legally qualified judges with non-lawyers in a new appeals authority and to require refugees to repay up to £10,000 of support. The Committee also presses her on the 10-year route, which would extend the qualifying period for millions already in the UK. With facial recognition technology being rolled out without clear rules, peers demand answers on why the Home Secretary has still not set out a policy five months after consultation closed.

After 14 Years, It’s Time a Home Secretary Learned from Mistakes of the Past (RMJ, July 2026)

Britain Thinks Net Migration is Rising – When it has Actually Fallen (British Future, May 2026)

What does it mean for our politics when the public’s perception of migration is the near-exact opposite of reality? This short piece from British Future unpacks new ONS data alongside their annual Immigration Attitudes Tracker, revealing a stark disconnect between a sharply falling net migration figure and a public that overwhelmingly believes the opposite is true. A timely reminder of how far removed the immigration debate can be from the underlying facts.

Safety for LQBTQI Young Asylum Seekers, and the Role Property Can Play (LandAid, June 2026)

What happens when the accommodation meant to offer safety instead places people alongside the very prejudice they fled? To mark Pride Month and Refugee Week, this short charity spotlight from LandAid highlights its partnership with Micro Rainbow and explores how safe, inclusive housing can transform the lives of young LGBTQI asylum seekers. Featuring first-hand testimony from residents, the piece makes a compelling case for the property sector’s role in providing not just shelter but the dignity and stability needed to begin rebuilding lives.

Migrant Workers’ Housing Matters for Systemic Resilience During Crises (HQM, July 2026)

What happens when the very workers a country relies on to keep functioning during a crisis are themselves living in precarious, overcrowded housing? This piece from academics at the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, and Newcastle summarises research on migrant essential workers during Covid-19 and Brexit, finding that housing insecurity undermined the very resilience these workers were providing. The piece notes that outcomes were markedly better in Scotland, highlighting the role that devolved housing policy and stronger tenant rights can play in protecting migrant workers, even within a hostile national immigration system.

An Analysis of the Asylum System (UK Parliament, June 2026)

What happens when a government department cannot say, with any confidence, how many people are in its own asylum system or where they are? This detailed report from the Committee of Public Accounts examines the Home Office’s management of the end-to-end asylum system, drawing on evidence from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and MHCLG. The report finds a system beset by fragmented accountability, poor data, and a pattern of short-term fixes that repeatedly shift pressure from one part of the system to another, concluding that departments still lack a shared understanding of what the asylum system is trying to achieve.

The Home Office in the Home (Melanie Griffiths, August 2026)

Drawing on a decade of research with 30 binational families, Melanie Griffiths examines how the UK immigration system intrudes into intimate family life. The academic article finds that relationships must be endlessly documented and performed to satisfy state requirements, yet even families deemed “genuine” can be lawfully separated in the pursuit of border control. Foreign husbands and fathers are routinely viewed with suspicion, particularly if they are Black, Brown, or Muslim. The piece connects these contemporary experiences to a longer colonial history of policing “mixed” relationships, showing how the state has long used the family as a site for drawing national and racial boundaries.

Ending Structural Production of Irregularity in Adult Social Care in the UK (Eda Yazici, May 2026)

Drawing on research from the PRIME Project, this policy brief examines how the UK’s Health and Care Worker Visa has systematically produced irregularity among migrant care workers. The policy brief finds that workers tied to sponsoring employers face a choice between accepting exploitation or losing their status, with sponsor licence revocations pushing an estimated 39,000 workers and dependents into irregularity. Recruitment fees of up to £25,000, wage theft, and the 60-day rule for finding a new sponsor are widespread. The piece warns that new reforms. including extended sponsorship periods and higher settlement thresholds, will only deepen precarity, and sets out practical reforms.

Paying More for Less: The Poverty Premium in 2026 (University of Bristol, July 2026)

Why do those who can least afford to pay more for essentials end up doing exactly that? This report examines the “poverty premium”, the extra costs that low-income households face for energy, insurance, credit, food, and paper billing. Based on a survey of over 1,000 low-income households, it finds that structural barriers, not individual financial choices, are the driver. Payment methods, tariff availability, where people shop, and how credit is accessed all systematically disadvantage those on lower incomes. The piece argues that while some regulatory interventions have reduced certain premiums, others have persisted or grown, and that renters, larger households, ethnic minority groups, and the digitally excluded are disproportionately impacted.

How Can ‘Race’ Unbox Migration? (Migration Unboxed, June 2026)

What happens when we acknowledge that racial discourses are not a byproduct of migration politics but central to how the category of “migrant” is produced? This 36-minute episode brings together Cat Ramírez (UC Santa Cruz) and Bridget Anderson (MMB) to examine the US and UK/European contexts, tackling questions of labour, precarity, assimilation, and integration. The conversation asks whether even well-intentioned advocacy for “migrant communities” can inadvertently perpetuate the very racial stereotyping it seeks to challenge. An exploration of how race structures who is seen as belonging and who is seen as a threat.

The UK is Making Things Worse for Channel Migrants (Bold Politics, July 2026)

How is the UK’s approach to border control putting lives at risk, and what would a genuinely humane alternative look like? This 34-minute episode sees host Zack Polanski challenge the prevailing political consensus on migration, arguing that the current system is both inhumane and ineffective. Polanski contends that political debate is being deliberately distracted by immigration while the real issues of wealth inequality and public services go unaddressed. Presenting a counter-narrative to the punitive, hostile environment approach, making the case that migrants and refugees should be welcomed, enabled to work, and allowed to contribute to the tax system as part of a compassionate and pragmatic strategy.

We Can Design Different: Law, Exclusion and Racial Justice (Lawmanity, June 2026)

Can the law ever deliver equality for those it was never designed to protect? In this 21-minute episode, host Jen Ang speaks with activist and researcher Pheona Matovu about the relationship between law, activism, and racial justice. Matovu argues that the law is not failing; it is working as designed, which is often to exclude rather than protect. Drawing on 17 years of work with people seeking asylum, she challenges the assumption that legal processes are the appropriate response to human suffering, asking why we require traumatised individuals to prove their experiences in court rather than meeting them with humanity and dignity.

Brexit, 10 Year On: Parliament and the Democratic Crisis (Hansard Society, June 2026)

Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, what lessons has Parliament actually learned? This 52-minute episode marks the anniversary of a vote that unleashed four years of political turmoil, with judges branded “enemies of the people” and MPs denounced as “saboteurs.” Historian Dr Robert Saunders joins hosts Ruth Fox and Mark D’Arcy to argue that Brexit amounted to a full-blown democratic crisis, and that Britain’s political system has learned strikingly little from the experience. The conversation then turns to the present, asking whether the same forces that fuelled the Brexit revolt are now at play over immigration.

Tackling Migrant Poverty in Scotland (Social Enterprise Scotland, May 2026) 

Why are migrants and their families disproportionately affected by financial disadvantage, and what practical tools can help? This 66-minute webinar, led by Migration Policy Scotland with contributions from Citizens Advice Edinburgh and Passion4Fusion, examines the intersecting causes of migrant poverty, from legal barriers to benefit access and language challenges to gaps between specialist and mainstream services, that drive particularly high rates of child poverty among migrant families. The session showcases practical resources developed with migrants and community organisations, including guides for communicating with people for whom English is a second language, local service needs maps, guidance on financial health checks, and migrant-led intercultural communication training.

New Evidence to Support Informed Debate on Irregular Immigration (MPC, June 2026)

What does the evidence actually tell us about irregular migration in Europe, and how can research inform more effective policy responses? This 2-minute video introduces the PRIME project, an EU-funded international research initiative analysing the conditions and politics of irregular migrants across Europe. The project examines how national institutions shape the experiences of irregular migrants, generating contextualised evidence to support more informed public debate and policy design.

Mahmood Questioned by Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (House of Lords, July 2026)

Why is the government pressing ahead with a 10-year settlement route when the Lords Committee has warned it may be unlawful? This two-hour session sees Shabana Mahmood face questions on the Immigration and Asylum Bill, including plans to replace legally qualified judges with non-lawyers in a new appeals authority and to require refugees to repay up to £10,000 of support. The Committee also presses her on the 10-year route, which would extend the qualifying period for millions already in the UK. With facial recognition technology being rolled out without clear rules, peers demand answers on why the Home Secretary has still not set out a policy five months after consultation closed.

Asylum Accommodation: Follow Up – Oral Evidence (Home Affairs Committee, June 2026)

What happens when the government pledges to end the use of asylum hotels, but the alternatives appear to repeat the same mistakes? This two-hour parliamentary session scrutinises ministers and contractor Clearsprings over the strategy of housing asylum seekers in former military sites. MPs question whether lessons have been learned from previous failures at Napier and Wethersfield, noting that contracts have “already gone to the same providers who oversaw such failures in the past.” The evidence reveals the government is pressing ahead with new large sites without a proper performance framework in place, and with disputes over site suitability unresolved.