Control over the numbers of entries has been a longstanding concern of Britain’s immigration and asylum policy. Since coming to power in 2010, however, the Conservative-Liberal coalition has for the first time set a target for net migration. In pursuit of that target, it has introduced caps for certain economic migration categories. The target has also been the background to proposals for new restrictions on international students, family migration, domestic workers and access to settlement.

This seminar will provide an opportunity for reflection on the Coalition’s immigration policy to date. How is its focus on targets and caps within immigration control to be explained? Is it defensible to use numbers in this way, either normatively or practically? Which other objectives, or consequences, may be identified in Coalition immigration policy, particularly in the current consultations on settlement and family reunion?

Programme

This seminar is jointly organised by COMPAS and the Migration and Law Network