I am an immigrant – a British citizen living in Spain. I’m not an ‘expat’. In fact, I hate the term, conveying as it does a certain superiority that is neither accurate nor justified. I am a migrant – no better or worse than any other foreigner that has chosen to make their home in a different country.
As a British citizen living in the EU, I’m acutely aware of attitudes towards migrants, both at home and abroad. I have always – most especially since Brexit – been deeply conscious of how well I am treated in my new home country. I have been welcomed by my Spanish neighbours with warmth and kindness and made to feel part of the family. It is an attitude that has been reflected – both in rhetoric and action – by the Spanish government, and one our own British government would do well to replicate.
Spain promoting the benefits of immigration
President Pedro Sanchez has been very vocal on the benefits of immigration to the Spanish economy. Not only has he championed the need for migrant workers in a country with an ageing population, but he’s also announced measures to help with integration, insisting that Spain has “both the need and the capacity to integrate”.
In October 2024, Sanchez described the Spanish people as the “children of migration” and suggested making “a migration policy that our elders can be proud of”. He called on the government, and the country, to create a strategy that would guarantee the future of the country’s grandchildren, and that of the welfare state.
UK government demonising immigrants
In stark contrast, the British government – in an apparent attempt to out-manoeuvre Reform UK – have moved farther right on immigration than most of us could ever have expected or wished for.
When Labour came to power, their manifesto spoke of – amongst other things – economic growth, fixing the NHS and having a “stronger and safer relationship with the rest of the world”. Ironic, then, that recent changes to their immigration policy will likely have a negative impact on each of those pledges, reliant as they are on the support of hard-working foreign workers.
Recent rhetoric from both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been increasingly anti-immigrant, and very different from their earlier stances when in opposition. Unsurprisingly, given the language used, there has been considerable condemnation of the latest government position from many quarters, including from with the Labour Party itself.
Toxic language for a toxic policy
Labour’s recent pledges on immigration are promising to reduce net migration and the reliance on overseas workers. As political aims, those promises may be largely welcomed. What was not welcomed – or warranted – was the horrifying, dog-whistle language in Starmer’s recent speech.
The prime minister referred to the UK as an “island of strangers” – terminology that immediately elicited comparisons to Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech in 1968. Following the criticism, No 10 then defended the tone of the speech saying that “tough words and tough policy are required to solve tough problems”.
All rather different from the Starmer of 2020 who said, “we welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them,” and who said we must “make the case for the benefits of migration, the benefits of free movement”. Those were the days.
Making foreigners feel unwelcome
As if changes in tone and policy re migrant numbers were not enough, the latest nail in the coffin for foreigners living in the UK is a change in policy re settlement status. For those already traumatised by changing attitudes towards migrants thanks to Brexit, the latest plan – to make them wait 10 years before applying for a right to stay indefinitely – must seem particularly cruel.
How the EU will view these developments, and the impact on their citizens, ahead of the EU/UK summit, remains to be seen.
Living in Spain, I feel lucky to be treated with kindness and respect by both the government and its people. Thanks to the Tories and Brexit, I lost any remaining pride in my birth country but looked to the new Labour government with hope and optimism. With a large majority, a leader with apparent intelligence and integrity, and the promise of ‘change’, anything seemed possible.
Despite the damage caused by Brexit, UKIP/Reform UK and the Tories, surely things were about to improve. Sadly, not – it would appear that appeasing the right, rather than defending the left is where we’re at.
Labour still has the chance to be different, to be radical, to be compassionate. They must not squander it. They won’t get many more chances to prove they are any different, better than the alternatives. If they fail to listen, we’ll all be the losers.
