Immigration, business, and the state: UK immigration policy from New Labour to Brexit

Since the early 2000s, immigration to the UK has become increasingly salient, anti-immigration sentiment has been mobilised, and successive governments have promised to reduce numbers. Yet over this period, immigration policies have enabled net migration to increase to historic highs. This paper examines the role of business in driving expansive immigration policies. Contrary to theories that depict business as an interest group whose main channel of influence is lobbying, the paper argues that in a capitalist democracy such as the UK, business enjoys structural power, generated by mutual dependencies between capital and the state. The paper examines three moments of policy change to trace how electoral logics and business interests interact to shape immigration policies: the Labour Government’s liberalisation of the early 2000s; the Coalition Government’s net migration target; and the Conservative’s post-Brexit immigration regime. The analysis shows how immigration policies are forged by both the noisy politics of elections and a quieter politics of economic interests, which unfolds through technocratic institutions and collaborative relations between political and business elites. The empirical analysis is based on original interviews with politicians, officials, and business representatives, as well as analysis of policy documents, speeches, parliamentary debates, and official minutes.