As the COVID-19 crisis has continued, we have seen more visibly than ever the contribution migrants make to our national life. News bulletins show the pictures of the many people who came from abroad to work in the NHS and sadly died looking after others. High-profile figures have spoken in praise of the migrants who have affected their lives. On his release from hospital, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a point of identifying and thanking the migrant nurses “Jenny from New Zealand ... and Luis from Portugal”, who had stood by his bedside whilst he was in intensive care. TV personality Piers Morgan has spoken out in support of migrant workers in the NHS, demanding we change the way we debate immigration. Could the very visible immigrant contribution to the pandemic response be a turning point towards a shift in public opinion and an opening for more open immigration policy?
Public support on the rise
In polling we conducted with British Future back in June 2018, almost half (45%) of people said they wanted to see numbers of low-skilled workers from the EU reduced. But as our mutual dependence on people in all walks of life, from bin men and delivery drivers to care workers and cleaners, has become very clear, our latest polling finds public support for migrants now appears to extend beyond our ‘NHS heroes’ to those previously reduced to the category of ‘unskilled’ workers.
A large majority (77%) agreed that EU nationals working as doctors and nurses during the coronavirus crisis should be offered automatic British citizenship. But less expectedly, a good majority (62%) also backed offering automatic British citizenship to care workers who have been doing essential work during the crisis, and half of those polled felt that automatic British citizenship should be extended to supermarket and agricultural workers (50% agreed) and delivery drivers (47% agreed).
