"Building a Safe, Just and Tolerant Society": British Attitudes towards Asylum and Migration

Abstract

Until the end of empire, Britain did not have a well-developed policy towards nationality and inward population movement, whether as migration or for purposes of asylum. Yet, in the wake of the Second World War, significant and consistent inward flows developed. This development forced the evolution of specific policies to deal with the domestic consequences which have produced significant contradictions between popular attitudes and national interests. The issue has been compounded by the implications of Britain’s membership of the European Union and the growth of securitisation policies in the face of trans-national terrorism.