Zoe Gardner, Simon Heffer and Jonathan Portes chaired by Stephen Law

Policy researcher Zoe Gardner, journalist and historian Professor Simon Heffer and former Treasury official Professor Jonathan Portes explore the tangled relationship between policy, prejudice and perception in the immigration debate.

Immigration increasingly dominates headlines and political discourse. Suella Braverman claims the UK faces an ‘invasion’ of people crossing the Channel in small boats, arguing the system is ‘out of control’. Kier Starmer has said we risk becoming an ‘island of strangers’ if high immigration continues. Nigel Farage says the small-boat arrivals amount to ‘an invasion’, calling for mass deportations of asylum seekers. Clive Lewis, a Labour MP, accused the Government of ‘enabling the mainstreaming of racism’ by releasing footage of deportations.

What lies beneath the rhetoric? Are immigration and asylum-seeking in the UK truly ‘out of control’, or have media narratives magnified fears beyond reality? Does the UK need immigration to expand the economy, increase the number of skilled workers and counter the impact of ageing and demographic change? To what extent are policies such as ‘hostile environment’ and deportation to Rwanda justified and effective?  Do we need still tougher approaches (perhaps like those adopted in the US), or more safe, legal routes for migration and asylum?

Gardner is an independent migration policy researcher and campaigner who works in the UK and across Europe to promote rights-based and effective migration and refugee policies. She appears regularly on television, including on Sky News and BBC Newsnight.

Heffer is a professor of modern British history at the University of Buckingham. He works for The Daily Telegraph and has a weekly column in The Sunday Telegraph. His most recent book, Scarcely English, An A-Z Of Assaults on Our Language, details the modern horrors of bad English.

Portes is professor of economics at King’s College London. He started his career at the Treasury and served as chief economist at the Department for Work and Pensions and chief economist at the Cabinet Office. His books include What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Immigration?

Discussions are chaired by Dr Stephen Law, philosopher and academic, and author of bestselling introductions to philosophy for adults and children, including The Philosophy Gym. Law is also the editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy Journal Think, and the festival’s major projects director.