Immigration & refugees

UK Migrant Settlements Hit 16-Year High

Is U.K. migration finally under control or are permanent settlements an unsustainable burden?

17 hours ago·Updated 8 hours ago

Story

Above: A clothing shop selling sarees and salwar kamiz in London on May 11. Image credit: John Keeble/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

The numbers don't lie — asylum hotel use has been slashed by 50%, small boat crossings are down 23% year-on-year, and the backlog has dropped 56%. Over 80,000 criminals and immigration offenders have been removed from the UK since July 2024. The migration system is genuinely improving, and anyone claiming it's still out of control is selling outrage, not reality.

Shabana Mahmood on X

Sophie Socket on X

Government-critical narrative

A record 73,000 people were granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in a single quarter, meaning one migrant every minute is now winning lifetime access to the welfare state. The sheer scale of permanent settlements is an economic and cultural burden Britain simply cannot sustain. No amount of spin about backlogs changes the fact that mass migration is being locked in permanently.

Allison Pearson on X

Zia Yusuf on X