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.

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%).

Almost two thirds of Labour voters (63%) think there is no difference when comparing the current government to Labour; but on the other hand, only a fifth of Labour voters (20%) think the Coalition government is currently doing a worse job on immigration than Labour did when in office. Among Conservative voters, 60% think the current government is doing a better job than under Labour; a third think there is no difference (35%).  

The polling also asked people to consider how the number of immigrants coming to Britain would change if a Conservative or a Labour government is elected in May next year. In both scenarios, the majority of the public foresee an unchanging picture: 56% feel the number of immigrants will stay the same if a Conservative government is elected, 52% if a Labour government is elected. However, more people think the number of immigrants allowed in will be higher if Labour is elected: 34% compared to 16% if the Conservatives are elected.

Bobby Duffy, Managing Director of Ipsos Social Research Institute, said: 

“The comparisons with Germany show how negative our attitudes towards immigration are – for a variety of reasons.  One of these is certainly our view of how little control successive governments have had over immigration numbers and policy. The new polling in Britain also shows the public remain unconvinced by either major party – the majority think the Coalition is doing no better than Labour did in the previous government, and that there will be no difference if there is a Conservative government at the next election.  But Labour are still also seen by a significantly higher proportion of people to be more likely allow higher immigration, when we know the majority of the population want numbers to be reduced.” 

• Read more about the work of Ipsos Public Affairs in Germany

• Download the computer tables (PDF)
• Download the charts (PDF)

Technical note

Fieldwork was completed by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1,011 British adults aged 18 and above, and took place between 8^th and 10^th November 2014.