Andrew Lewin MP is chairing a UKBTC business and trade commission which proposes a design for a UK-EU reciprocal capped youth mobility scheme, proposing 44,000 each way as a viable starting proposition. Details from Best for Britain www.bestforbritain.org/launch_yes_w...

It’s encouraging to see the government finally acknowledge NRPF in the Child Poverty Strategy and commit to supporting vulnerable children regardless of immigration status. This is a significant shift and long overdue. www.gov.uk/government/p...

The Child Poverty strategy includes some welcome measures to support migrant children including providing guidance for councils on s17 of the Children Act and gathering better data. Wider measure to limit the use of unsuitable and poor quality temporary accom should also help.

It's very good to see the government explicitly acknowledge 'no recourse to public funds' in their child poverty strategy. The strategy commits the government to supporting vulnerable children regardless of immigration status.

Today's finally the day! @migobs.bsky.social has published its mega report on migration data gaps. Whatever people's politics, we should all recognise that effective policy making needs good data. And there are areas where we're still falling short. migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...

Net negative migration in 2026 would be quite a shocker!

'Paradigm shift' - my take on last week's asylum and settlement proposals. Home secretary is right to focus on asylum reform, particularly on appeals. But risk is that this agenda doesn't deliver on tackling small boats, while undermining integration in the process. www.ippr.org/articles/a-p...

Shameless self-publicity. My new book "Why Immigration Policy Is Hard And How To Make It Better" is out. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

Headline thoughts on migration stats: A sharp drop in net migration to 204,000 in year ending June 2025. While expected, it's still striking. Much of this driven by restrictions on study dependants and Health and Care visa under last govt, as well as steady rise in emigration.

Net migration fell sharply agaim to 204,000 in the year to June 2025, having been 344k in 2024 and 848k in 2023. But falling immigration has been the biggest secret - and it is time for the media and political debate to catch up with this change www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...

👇 @harryqp.bsky.social responds to the Budget and what it means for living standards. Read his full response here: www.ippr.org/media-office...

Today the government is lifting the 2-child limit – a major IPPR win that boosts incomes and improves opportunities for ~ 1.6m children. Extra income in low-income families boosts health and attainment. By the end of the parliament, 450,000 fewer children will live in poverty. A landmark moment.

4.45 million children in the UK live in poverty, and nearly 4 in 10 are in families where both parents were born abroad. My blog sets out why this must be recognised in the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy. 🔗https://tinyurl.com/yc8mp55p

The two key charts from Home Office's new earned settlement proposals. 10 years to be new baseline for qualifying period for settlement. High earners, public service workers, and volunteers could get shorter route. But refugees coming irregularly on e.g. small boat may have to wait up to 30 years

The UK government's proposals on changes to settlement (indefinite leave to remain) rules have now been published in a consultation paper, ahead of a statement from the Home Secretary to MPs shortly www.gov.uk/government/c...

NEW: next week's budget, with an OBR downgrade & tax rises all but certain, could be very tricky. But it can actually be a positive milestone. If the Chancellor fixes big unfairnesses & irrationalities in the tax system, it can be popular and pro growth. 👇 www.ippr.org/articles/fai...

An extraordinary revision, driven by much higher estimates of British emigration. Rachel Reeves may be hoping the OBR haven’t found out about this…

Some thoughts on yesterday's asylum announcement. Asylum clearly in need of reform - small boat numbers too high, processing too slow and hotel use too costly. Gov wants principles of fairness/contribution to underpin reforms. These are right principles. But will reforms deliver?

…picking back up with some news from this week 👇 The Home Affairs Select Committee has just published its report on asylum accommodation – and I’m pleased to see many of IPPR’s recommendations reflected in it.

Important new report on the failures of the asylum accommodation system by Home Affairs Committee.

This letter from the Home Office to the Home Affairs Select Committee confirms how ridiculously expensive putting people seeking asylum in hotels is compared to housing in communities. It costs more than six times as much. And large sites aren't much better committees.parliament.uk/publications...

🗺️This evening at #Lab25 | From safe routes to settled lives: what is Labour’s approach to humanitarian pathways? 17:00–18:15 - Arena Room Dee, ACC Liverpool Speakers: 👉 @tonyvaughanmp.bsky.social 👉 Frank Sharry 👉 Mubeen Bhutta 👉 Abdulrahman Bdiwi Chaired by @marleymorris.bsky.social

Interesting point on digital ID here by @cjmckinney.bsky.social

Have Reform been asked if forcing all foreign nationals with settled status to apply for a new temporary status really does mean renewing on & tearing up the UK/EU citizens agreements after Brexit? I would exoect/hope they would quickly exempt EU settled status from this

Bold 'control and compassion' approach can reduce small boat numbers. '“The new Home Secretary needs to seize the initiative on small boats with a real-world plan that is bold enough to have an impact but founded on hard evidence of what works'. www.britishfuture.org/bold-control...

A classroom of children dies every day in Gaza. Yet since the war started in October 2023, only 80 children have been granted visas to come to the UK. ✏️ @amreenqureshi.bsky.social writes about the need for a Gaza Family Visa Scheme 👇 www.opendemocracy.net/en/uk-gaza-f...

New Home Office figures today reveal a more complex picture on asylum than often assumed. The increase in asylum applications hides two distinct trends on asylum in recent years. Yes there has been an increase in small boats. But also a rise in applications from people originally arriving on visas

There is now also caseworker guidance, setting out the prioritisation process: • Stage 1: high-grant and high-volume nationalities • Stage 2: connection to the UK • Stage 3: random selection of Expression of Interest application Connection to the UK means having previously been lawfully in the UK.

Thoughtful and insightful new piece on national identity and cohesion by my colleague @parth0.bsky.social for the FT

The Southport riots were not just a moment of disorder, they were a warning. When shared spaces disappear, people turn inward and become isolated. To resist division, we must rebuild places where people meet and find common ground. Read more at ippr.org/articles/places-to-come-together

Tackling small boat crossings means more than just going after smugglers. The government must also offer safe and legal alternatives so people aren’t forced to risk their lives crossing the Channel. @marleymorris.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk

New stats from DWP show just under 84% of people on Universal Credit are UK citizens. Of the remainder, most are on the EU settlement scheme. Otherwise, only tiny numbers are on UC without being settled in the UK, primarily because they have no recourse to public funds.

🔔OUT TODAY🔔 Our new report presents UK-wide evidence to the Independent Commission on Community & Cohesion It finds a troubling powder keg of low political trust, polarisation, online vulnerability and cost of living concerns that risk sparking into further unrest if left unaddressed

Excited to have launched our latest report today on Universal Opportunity. It’s clear that the UK has a problem with social mobility and young people are paying a high price. We call for a series of recommendations so that every young person can build a decent life.

New immigration rules today reveal increase in general salary threshold for Skilled Worker route will be £41,700, up from £38,700 previously. www.gov.uk/government/p...

New immigration reforms include an interim Temporary Shortage List, covering occupations below degree-level which govt consider important for its industrial strategy. It's an interesting list, including lab technicians, authors, fashion designers, business sales executives, builders and decorators.

The trade strategy out today risks getting lost in the news agenda, but it actually reads v well (especially for a govt strategy!) There's a recognition that a rethink of trade policy is needed in a rapidly changing geopolitical context, where protectionism is resurgent www.gov.uk/government/p...

Today’s industrial strategy made some clear strategic choices for the future direction of the UK economy. @ippr.org found that there are opportunities for the UK in three key clean technology industries, all of which are featured in the strategy 1/8

🤝| NEW REPORT: The government has an opportunity to turn the tide on child poverty. Our joint roadmap with @changingrealities.bsky.social‬ & @cpaguk.bsky.social‬ sets out what a serious strategy must include. Shaped by lived experience, grounded in policy evidence. www.ippr.org/articles/get... (1/3)

3 weeks after the immigration white paper, MPs have been unable to secure any more info on issues like - when is the consultation? - what criteria would there be for < 10 years? (Would that be 5 years?) - what % might be 5/10 years? - when might this change come in? - Would it be phased in? Etc

New @ippr.org analysis on govt plan to extend qualifying period for settlement from 5 to 10 years. - Around 1.7m people already in UK could be affected. - Evidence says restricting settlement could inhibit integration and earnings. - Public do not support 10 year wait. www.ippr.org/articles/not...

The immigratiion stats include updated inadmissibility figures for the first time in a while. This is the process that was supposed to replace Dublin system. It has been pointless. Since the start of 2021 over 100,000 claims have been considered as potentially inadmissible with 33 people removed.

Net migration is falling, the job now is about balance - the government must consider how it manages numbers without harming the economy or public services. @marleymorris.bsky.social‬ responds to today's migration figures. Read more here: www.ippr.org/media-office...

Net migration has fallen sharply as expected - down to 431,000 in 2024, a 50% fall from 2023. This is driven by: - Tighter scrutiny of care visa sponsors. - Stopping students and care workers from bringing dependants. - Higher salary thresholds. - Rising student emigration.

New net migration figures, published by ONS tomorrow at 9.30am, are certain to show a big fall in numbers, probably by over 250k. But new polling by @focaldata.bsky.social for @britishfuture.bsky.social finds this will surprise 90% of the public, most of whom are expecting numbers to go up. [1/6]

For the last year, I’ve been working on an investigation that’s left me staggered. It’s a damning indictment of the UK’s care sector, & the migration system which has allowed millions of ££s to be plundered from communities in developing countries. Free link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

I was surprised to see in today's ONS figures that UK goods exports suddenly rose 3.5% in Q1/25. Then I found this was almost entirely driven by a surge in UK aluminium exports to the US ahead of Trump's tariffs. This alone pushed UK GDP growth by ~0.2 ppts (out of 0.7 ppts total in Q1). Amazing.

📣 OUT NOW – Asylum Management Centres: A new approach to tackle small boat crossings FGF report proposes new asylum centres in France to reduce boat arrivals. ✍️ Beth Gardiner-Smith, Snr Associate & fmr Yvette Cooper advisor & Emily Graham, Associate www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/resource/asy...

Brand new data on visa holders' earnings: → Skilled worker visa holders earning median £56.6k → Big variation in earnings by industry: lowest in hospitality, highest in IT/finance → Family of British citizens/residents had median £20k, varying by nationality but not as much as for work visas 🧵

Immigration white paper a shake-up of nearly every part of the system. Headline thoughts: - Govt raising skills threshold for Skilled Worker visa back to graduate level jobs. According to govt assessment, this is the policy with biggest impact on numbers. Hospitality likely to be most affected.