Image: Just a few of the Daily Express's anti-migrant front pages
Veterans of the migration debate know better than to predict the future. But following years of continued growth, it seems like immigration to the UK may have finally peaked. This slowdown, alongside the outcome of the EU referendum, has influenced the tone of the debate. According to the polling, migration has fallen down the public’s list of concerns. And politicians seem to have taken note.
The Government has been taking tentative steps towards a more rational approach towards international students, highly skilled migrants and EU workers. Today, for example, immigration minister Brandon Lewis announced that the government would streamline the application process for EU migrants to achieve 'settled status', from a controversial 85-page form to a short online process - something the IPPR called for back in March. And in general, rather than deferring to the whims of the right-wing press, the approach now seems to be to let the Migration Advisory Committee, a panel of independent experts, arbitrate.
