Perceptions and Reality: Public attitudes to immigration in Germany and Britain
A new report by Ipsos and Ipsos Germany compares public attitudes to immigration in Britain and Germany, showing them on very different paths. Generational analysis of the European Social Survey shows Germans have become much more positive than Britons about the economic impact of immigration over the last decade and also more consensual in their views. The British public, in contrast, are more divided, particularly along generational lines with older generations much more sceptical about the economic contribution of migrants.
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Lack of confidence in the current UK government’s performance on immigration is also highlighted in new polling released today to coincide with the publication of the report. The polling asked the British public to compare the job the Coalition government is currently doing on immigration to the job it was doing in 2010, at the start of its tenure, and to the performance of the previous Labour government. Findings show that the government is doing little to convince the public that they are more in control of immigration. The majority of people think the government’s current performance is no better or worse than when it came to office in 2010 (55%); around a fifth of people think it is better (18%) while a similar proportion think it is worse (20%). Similarly, the majority think there is no difference between the job that is currently being done and the job done by Labour on immigration (56%), although the proportion of people saying it is better (25%) is higher than the proportion saying it is worse (12%).
AuthorsBobby Duffy Tom Frere-Smith Dr. Hans-Jürgen Frieß
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