Leaders | An unexpected beacon

Britain is the best place in Europe to be an immigrant

What other countries can learn from its example

The Statue of Liberty on the White Cliffs of Dover
image: Patrick Leger

The idea of Britain as a nation of immigration might seem counterintuitive. Its citizens voted to leave the European Union in 2016 after they were promised a tighter chokehold on inflows of people from Europe. This week politicians in Parliament tussled over a bill that will make it easier to ship asylum-seekers to Rwanda without hearing their pleas—the latest in a string of illiberal laws designed to “stop the boats”.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Britain’s superpower”

From the March 23rd 2024 edition

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