Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has faced a wave of criticism following remarks he made about immigration in a recent BBC interview with Amol Rajan. Blair, who is well-known for his pro-European Union stance, discussed the unintended consequences of Brexit on UK immigration patterns, sparking controversy and backlash online.
During the interview, Blair reflected on the immigration trends during his tenure, noting that while numbers increased, the economy benefited significantly from the influx of mostly European, single individuals who worked primarily in the hospitality sector. He defended this as beneficial to the UK’s economy but acknowledged the need for controlled and orderly immigration.
Blair’s contentious comments came when he contrasted the pre- and post-Brexit sources of immigration. “We’ve now got higher levels of immigration than ever before, and we’ve swapped out usually single people coming from Europe for families from Asia and Africa. How has this helped us?” he questioned. This comparison has particularly drawn ire, with many perceiving it as a bizarre and potentially divisive characterisation of the current immigration landscape.
The interview clip shared on the social media platform X received widespread attention, amassing nearly two million views, with many users expressing frustration at Blair’s framing of the issue. Critics argue that his comments oversimplified complex immigration dynamics and could potentially fuel divisive sentiments.
The University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory reported that net migration soared to 685,000 in 2023, largely due to an increase in non-EU citizens arriving in the UK. This marks a significant shift from the pre-2016 EU referendum trends, where EU citizens predominantly drove immigration numbers. Since 2017, net migration from the EU has been negative, reaching -76,000 in 2023.
In his interview, Blair also lamented the lack of a “simple solution” to protect Britons from global changes affecting jobs and the economy, emphasising the challenges of governance in the face of technological and demographic shifts.
While some social media users suggested that Blair was merely highlighting that the UK could only influence the origin of mass migration, not the volume, others recalled that non-EU immigration was also substantial during his time in office.
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