British Future

From Diwali to Discord: What Happened to Leicester’s Shared Belonging? - British Future As a new report examines the 2022 Leicester unrest, Avaes Mohammed speaks to people from the city about what needs to change.

'From Diwali to Discord: What Happened to Leicester’s Shared Belonging?'
As a new report examines the 2022 Leicester unrest, our Avaes Mohammed speaks to people from South Asian communities in the city about what needs to change.
www.britishfuture.org/from-diwali-...

100,625 people claimed asylum in UK in 2025, slightly down on previous year - BBC reports on new Home Office data
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

How rightwing rhetoric has risen sharply in the UK parliament – an exclusive visual analysis In the past five years, MPs’ attitudes in the House of Commons towards immigration have swung harder to the right than at almost any other time in the last century

MPs are "ventriloquising a cartoonish caricature of what they think the public wants to hear, which might be harder than where the public actually are,” says
@sundersays.bsky.social in new @theguardian.com research on hardening immigration rhetoric in parliament
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...

Keeping Trumpism out of Britain The battle now for Labour is to keep US-style bigotry out of Britain. To do that, it cannot simply change its language on immigration and race. It must also change policies

Labour needs to find an authentic centre-left account of how to manage immigration and integration – and that means changing its policies too. @sundersays.bsky.social for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social www.thenewworld.co.uk/sunder-katwa...

Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain tests how far populist right will go Restore believe "Britain is a people defined by indigenous British ancestry and Christian faith”

"Rupert Lowe looks like creating a new BNP for the online age – a project doomed to fail," writes @sundersays.bsky.social for @easterneye.bsky.social www.easterneye.biz/rupert-lowe-...

Remigration by stealth? The government’s earned settlement proposals - UK in a changing Europe James Bowes analyses the potential impact of the UK government's proposed changes to its settlement schemes to both new migrants and migrants already in the UK.

"These new rules won’t just affect new immigrants but will also affect over 2 million immigrants already living in the UK."

✍️ @jamesbowes01.bsky.social analyses the impact of the government's proposed changes to settlement schemes in the UK

🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/remigration-...

Zia Yusuf says Reform will outbid Trump by proposing largest ever expulsion people with permanent status [over 250k] since 1970s dictator Idi Amin threw 80k Asians out of Uganda + deport over a million other more recent legal migrants too. Despite rhetoric of control, its a recipe for chaos+cruelty

Our @sundersays.bsky.social on the lack of credibility in Zia Yusuf’s numbers today

Racism in football: Tolu Arokodare and Romaine Mundle receive abuse on social media Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare and Sunderland winger Romaine Mundle have become the latest Premier League players to be sent racist abuse on social media this weekend.

'Appalling weekend' for racism in football, as Arokodare & Mundle latest players to be racially abused online
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Reform would create ICE-style agency and end leave to remain, Zia Yusuf to say Nigel Farage’s party plans to deport up to 288,000 people a year on five flights a day and expand stop and search

Reform would create ICE-style agency and end leave to remain, Zia Yusuf to say www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The future of Reform rests on Matt Goodwin’s by-election Lose in Gorton & Denton and the party may be driven even further right

Matt Goodwin's candidacy in Denton & Gorton "illuminates the balance of risks & rewards for Reform, presenting itself as a potential govt, in embracing the sharper edges of the online right." Our @sundersays.bsky.social for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social
www.thenewworld.co.uk/sunder-katwa...

Moving the goalposts on ‘earned settlement’ is a risky gamble for this government Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was granted a new lease of political life last week. His cabinet rallied round to reject Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s call to ditch their leader. Nobody knows i...

Moving the goalposts on ‘earned settlement’ is a risky gamble for this government – @sundersays.bsky.social writes for @easterneye.bsky.social www.easterneye.biz/keir-starmer...

Trump, Musk and now UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe – they are the enablers, making racists feel great again | Jonathan Freedland With their profile and vile words, these malign provocateurs are tearing down decency’s guardrails, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

ICYMI on Fri - "Trump, Musk and now UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe – they are the enablers, making racists feel great again" - @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Nigel Farage claims "Look at net migration numbers. Oh, it isn't good that net migration is coming down".

"Do you know why? Its because there is an exodus: those of a situation + a financial position to be fortunate to have a choice"

A v misleading exaggeration/narrative of falling net migration

Ratcliffe's 'colonised' comments cross the line between debate and division - British Future The Man Utd owner's comments use inflammatory language that sets different groups of people against each other, says Sunder Katwala.

"It is important to have an open and frank debate about immigration and integration," writes @sundersays.bsky.social on Jim Ratcliffe's 'colonised' comments. "It helps no-one when public voices use inflammatory language."
www.britishfuture.org/ratcliffes-c...

Forget Jim Ratcliffe’s half-apology: to speak of immigrants ‘colonising’ Britain is wrong and sinister | Sunder Katwala He fused an echo of Enoch Powell with the spirit of the far right’s great replacement theory. This is no way to progress a humane migration debate, says Sunder Katwala, director of British Future

I wrote for the Guardian about why Jim Ratcliffe's talk of Britain being "colonised" by immigrants crosses the line between legitimate debate and inflammatory rhetoric. It fuses echoes of Powellism with great replacement conspiracies of "civilisational erasure"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

ICYMI - ahead of this weekend's India-Pakistan T20 cricket match, our Avaes Mohammad writes about the new 'British South Asian Bridgers project' supporting those individuals working to bridge divides within and between South Asian communities in the UK .

Our @sundersays.bsky.social on BBC News discussing Jim Ratcliffe’s use of ‘colonised’ to talk about uk immigration

Our @sundersays.bsky.social is talking to BBC News Channel at 9.30 discussing Ratcliffe’s comments and language on immigration

It is important to recognise that

"Immigration has been too high/was unsustainable high in the last parliament and needs [needed] to come down"

Is qualitatively very different in language, ethos to

"Britain has been colonised by immigrants"
Colonised?
"Yes, we've been colonised". [Mistaken stat]

I am writing (for next week) about what happens after the settlement consultation closes tomorrow.

- does govt make significant reforms/changes, or minor amendments?

- Does govt push ahead quickly, with changes this April? Or slow down? Stagger elements?

- will MPs get a voice/vote or not?

Follow on LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/company/the-...

British South Asian Bridgers Project - British Future Supporting those working to bridge divides between UK South Asian communities; researching attitudes and tensions among British South Asians.

The project will also conduct new, in-depth research to better understand attitudes, tensions and strengths within Britain’s South Asian population.
Find out more about the British South Asian Bridgers Project at: www.britishfuture.org/british-sout...

Beyond cricket: Bridging south Asian divides in a polarised Britain British South Asian Bridger’s Project focuses upon bridging divides and fostering greater togetherness amongst the UK’s most populous minority community

With India and Pakistan set to play each other on Sunday in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup – a fixture that has previously sparked conflicts between South Asian communities here in the UK – our Avaes Mohammad writes about the project in @easterneye.bsky.social
www.easterneye.biz/british-sout...

A new 'British South Asian Bridgers Project' is bringing together and supporting the ‘bridging’ voices who are working to build inter-community connection, and defuse tensions, among the UK’s largest ethnic minority group. [1/5]

Changes at Number Ten, but Starmer’s future remains uncertain Most of the Westminster commentariat predict that Starmer will prove to be a caretaker prime minister on borrowed time

Starmer's future remains uncertain – but "it may be a few months yet before we find out who governs Britain for the remaining three years of this parliament," writes @sundersays.bsky.social for @easterneye.bsky.social www.easterneye.biz/keir-starmer...

UK expands Hong Kong visa scheme in wake of Jimmy Lai’s prison sentence Exclusive: Home Office ruling means thousands more Hongkongers will be eligible to come to the UK over next five years

'UK expands Hong Kong visa scheme in wake of Jimmy Lai’s prison sentence,' reports @theguardian.com. Adult children of BN(O)s who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China will now be eligible to apply, independently of their parents. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR Thinktank analysis says proposed ‘earned settlement’ changes could trap families in prolonged insecurity

300,000 children in the UK would face "prolonged insecurity" as a result of the government's proposed changes to settlement rules, finds new @ippr.org analysis
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

PM’s welcome words on cohesion must be followed with national action - British Future The PM has set out a vision for social cohesion. We now need to see a long-term plan to turn the vision into reality, writes Sunder Katwala.

"It is welcome, if overdue, that the PM has set out a positive vision for cohesion... What needs to follow is a clear plan to turn these words into sustained action," writes our @sundersays.bsky.social www.britishfuture.org/pms-welcome-...

Starmer vows to defend ‘decent Britain’ as he faces fury over Mandelson appointment Starmer’s support for ‘rules that protect those in need’ overshadowed by concerns he knew about Mandelson’s Esptein links

"Starmer vows to defend ‘decent and tolerant Britain’ as he faces Labour fury over Mandelson appointment," writes @the-independent.com www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...