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Why Brexit’s immigration politics have fizzled out Why Brexit’s immigration politics have fizzled out
(3 days later)
If this week marks the end of Brexit as a central issue in British politics, as my Times colleague Mark Landler suggested may have happened yesterday, then it went with a whimper, not a bang.If this week marks the end of Brexit as a central issue in British politics, as my Times colleague Mark Landler suggested may have happened yesterday, then it went with a whimper, not a bang.
On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced an agreement on trade rules for Northern Ireland, resolving one of the last major Brexit-related disputes between Britain and the European Union.On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced an agreement on trade rules for Northern Ireland, resolving one of the last major Brexit-related disputes between Britain and the European Union.
But while coverage in the British press was generally positive, it had more of the sense of a dutiful news cycle than a genuine watershed moment. That is consistent with voters’ generally blasé attitude toward the Northern Ireland negotiations: a YouGov poll this week found that 44 percent of Britons weren’t following the issue at all, and only 6 percent reported following it closely.But while coverage in the British press was generally positive, it had more of the sense of a dutiful news cycle than a genuine watershed moment. That is consistent with voters’ generally blasé attitude toward the Northern Ireland negotiations: a YouGov poll this week found that 44 percent of Britons weren’t following the issue at all, and only 6 percent reported following it closely.
On the one hand, this seems kind of shocking: leaving the European Union is the most significant political and economic event for Britain in a generation. The country is in the midst of an economic crisis. People aren’t even paying attention?On the one hand, this seems kind of shocking: leaving the European Union is the most significant political and economic event for Britain in a generation. The country is in the midst of an economic crisis. People aren’t even paying attention?
But Brexit, as a political issue, was never really about trade for many Britons, but immigration. And that issue now plays a very different role in British politics than during the run-up to the 2016 referendum — a shift that can tell us something about how fear of immigration gathers steam as a political issue, and when it loses it.
Immigration was not the only issue for voters in the Brexit contest, but it was a primary focus of the “Vote Leave” campaign ahead of the 2016 referendum.