UK and France extend ‘one in, one out’ small boats pilot scheme until October

Record number of overseas applications for British passports in early 2026 - presumably because the Home Office began insisting that dual nationals need one to travel to the UK (rather than using their Australian or Canadian passport, say)

"New estimates released today show that the total foreign-born population increased by 2.4 million since the last census and now makes up 19% of the population" migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/press/falls-...

Home Secretary statement on falling immigration

Today's net migration statistics show that 171,000 more people arrived in the UK than left in 2025. That's down 82% compared to the historical high seen in early 2023 (944,000).

Initial decision asylum backlog is still falling (but appeal backlog is rising because of the high refusal rate). Initial backlog is now 49,000, back to pre-pandemic levels at last, but with further to fall. Should be about 20,000 or less if system is healthy.

New from the ONS: "it is not correct to say that our migration statistics show a recent rise in emigration of British nationals. Instead, changes to the way we estimate Brits moving into and out of the UK have made a previously incomplete picture more accurate". www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

The latest Home Office statistics show that the asylum grant rate for Syrian nationals has dropped from 98% (y/e March 2025) to 9% (y/e March 2026)

“No English manager has ever won the [English] Premier League. Some 75% of the league’s minutes this season were racked up by foreign-born players” economist.com/britain/2026...

“Lecka, 23, was jailed for eight years last September but was deported to Poland in February after serving 14 months… parents… are now calling for child abusers, and other serious offenders, to be ineligible for early release”. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The UK is weighing a new visa that would give three years of residency to wealthy individuals investing at least £5 million in the country, as the nation seeks to revive its global attractiveness. Read more: bloom.bg/4nEKd9o 📷: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

In my latest piece for Substack I reflect on new projections which raise the possibility that the UK population will shrink and ask, does a shrinking population mean we 'need' immigration? georginasturge.substack.com/p/does-a-shr...

Our latest briefing on migrants in the UK labour market charts the remarkable shift away from EU towards non-EU workers over the past few years. Plus data on migrants' earnings, use of universal credit, overqualification, and much more... migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...

Governments signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights have issued a joint statement on how it applies to "migration-related challenges" which "may weaken public confidence" in the ECHR. It doesn't change the law, though. www.coe.int/en/web/porta...

The arbitration ruling in this case is due today

#BBCNews - 'Millions' of pounds saved by replacing Palantir tech in refugee system www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New: Can a Student visa holder sit as a member of the Scottish Parliament? Yes, they can — by John Vassiliou

As expected, the King's Speech legislative programme includes a forthcoming bill on reforming/tightening asylum and human rights law www.gov.uk/government/p...

“The Home Office plays a significant, even preeminent, role l in the financial health of the higher education sector”, MPs point out committees.parliament.uk/publications...

New Migration Advisory Committee research on how long people on work visas stay (legally) in the UK. Healthcare workers are particularly likely to settle - e.g. 94% of nurses still here after five years - as are migrants earning relatively low wages. www.gov.uk/government/p...

"The campaign encourages the public to check that their immigration adviser is properly regulated before placing their trust in them." — Immigration Advice Authority

Population change in Europe over the last 20 years, according to the International Organization for Migration

📢 Discover Europe's first quarterly mixed migration updates for 2026. 🔗 Read the full #QMMU: https://f.mtr.cool/zwkdvwexis

"Chi Leung "Peter" Wai used the main immigration database to track Hong Kong dissidents in the UK." — BBC News

Are migrants more likely to claim benefits than UK nationals? In March 2025, 15% of individuals in receipt of a Universal Credit payment were non-UK (and non-Irish) nationals aged 16 or over. This compares to just over 13% of non-UK or Irish nationals in the wider population.

Good report on the pros and cons of Spain's recent run of high net migration www.ft.com/content/3fe9...

⁉️Do immigrant candidates get the immigrant vote? Many party strategists assume they do. But do they really? Short answer: Nope. And I have done the research to support this. Read more about why & why this is relevant for the upcoming UK local elections here: www.compas.ox.ac.uk/article/do-i...

“The government has chosen to leave the broken initial decision process exactly where it is and to redesign the appellate stage that is, in fact, the part of the system most or less working as intended” open.substack.com/pub/wewanted...

Disturbing reports www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Good point well made on the big tension within the asylum system, from the new @msumption.bsky.social book

"She said that more needed to be done to prevent false claims but cautioned that it was important that this did not adversely affect genuine victims". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Safe and legal humanitarian routes to the UK https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9630/

Judges are using artificial intelligence to improve their judgments, a senior judge disclosed last week. Sir Colin Birss chancellor of the High Court, described four ways in which the judiciary were now using AI. rozenberg.substack.com/p/judging-ai

The view from America: “UK political moves on immigration have been connected to the issue's visibility”. www.migrationpolicy.org/article/uk-i...

"UK government should focus on the true causes of the asylum backlog and delays rather than establishing a new appeals body, says the Law Society of England and Wales" www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-v...

"Sources said French access to the Eurodac database meant they could swiftly remove people who had passed through a third EU country". www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The Home Office is supposed to publish reports by the immigration and borders inspector within eight weeks of receiving them. One report has been waiting almost a year. www.gov.uk/government/n...

"Britain and France have agreed the terms of a new deal to stop small boat crossings that will link payments to results for the first time and involve riot police being stationed on the French coast" www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

This is awful news. One of the original legal bloggers and one of the very best. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/04/gile...

"Judge in case of two families housed for years in single hotel rooms says they should have been moved within three monthsThe Home Office could face legal action from hundreds of asylum-seeking families stuck in single rooms in hotels after a judge criticised the “extraordinarily…" — The Guardian

"We would urge anyone seeking immigration advice to ensure they approach a regulated advisor so they are not caught up in schemes such as the ones uncovered by the BBC. None of the individuals or organisations exposed in the reports are current ILPA members". ilpa.org.uk/ilpa-stateme...

New paper! The UK plans to restrict visa access for ‘mid-skill’ occupations- except for those on the Temporary Shortage List of exemptions. We ask: What effects would loss of visa access have for labour supply? Which occupations should be on that list?

“One immigration adviser boasted that she had spent more than 17 years helping bring fake claims and said she could arrange for someone to pretend they'd had a gay sexual relationship with a client” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Another pilot of facial recognition cameras to monitor Ireland-UK ferry passengers, in the absence of systematic border control: www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

"Bullen, who grew up in Enfield, north London, was served with a citizenship deprivation order by Mahmood in October, a month after she became home secretary" www.thetimes.com/article/461a...

"From 9 April 2026, the Home Office will begin removing pre-settled status from individuals who have clearly ceased to maintain continuous residence in the UK" www.gov.uk/government/p...

"It seems that the Commission has stopped bilateral deals without having the power to negotiate an EU-wide replacement". ukandeu.ac.uk/youth-mobili...

Sustained fall in overall family visa applications since the special, free route for immediate family of refugees was "paused" in September www.gov.uk/government/s...

Four people die in Channel small-boat sinking

“Britain is no stranger to blocking arrivals. Usually the victim is a no-name rapper or Islamist preacher, which causes little uproar […] If Britain seems like a place where the home secretary can ban entry based on little more than a whim, it’s because she can”. economist.com/britain/2026...