IMMIGRATION surges as top priority for Scottish voters. Pressure grows for PM to get grip on asylum claims. Smuggler: Smalls boats crisis is Labour’s fault.
These were some of the headlines on the front of Monday papers in Scotland, not to mention a Sky News article which was entitled “Is it time for gunboats to help stop the people smugglers?” that sprung up on everyone’s phones on a quiet August Sunday evening.
The issue of immigration seems to have taken over the UK and Scottish press all of a sudden, but should we be taking it all with a pinch of salt?
When looking at the article leading The Scotsman suggesting that immigration has become a top priority for Scots, it’s important to remember why we should always be careful when reading summaries of polls. There are always different approaches and methodologies at play.
What this poll showed was that immigration had become perhaps more of a growing concern than a top priority. The survey by the David Hume Institute and the Diffley Partnership showed more than one in five Scots (21%) now feel immigration is a top-three issue facing the country – a rise of 5% from the figure recorded in May – but it was still firmly behind the cost of living and healthcare.
As polling expert Mark McGeoghegan also pointed out, the “pick three of this list” approach, while a valid one, is not always the best way of showing what is really at the forefront of people’s minds. You usually get a better idea of this by asking an open-ended question about what people’s concerns are.
The other question that springs to mind from the poll is, why are people more concerned about immigration? Perhaps it’s actually because Scotland desperately needs more people to come to the country and not because they are concerned about the amount of people here.
Polls are a snapshot in time, nuance is often absent, and newspapers (including ourselves) will always pick out the line that is most relevant to them, so my advice is always to have a critical mind when looking at polling stories.
When it comes to the Sky News story written by Jon Craig on whether gunboats should be considered as a way of deterring asylum seeker arrivals, this is a sign of an alarming trend that seems to be taking hold of the mainstream media. This is the kind of content we expect from the likes of GB News and Talk TV, but speaking in this way about asylum seekers now seems to be acceptable on more mainstream channels.
It was only a few months ago that I was writing about the Overton window shifting so much that the anti-Muslim associate editor of The Spectator, Douglas Murray, received an eight-minute slot on Newsnight despite previously accusing Humza Yousaf of “infiltrating” the UK political system.
News travels quickly and so do attitudes towards particular issues, especially in a media which is now hyper-competitive and, at times, frighteningly fast-paced.
This article from Sky has been heavily criticised and condemned, but that does not make it any less concerning that, through an app notification, this headline – with no context around it – will have entered people’s consciousness on an idle Sunday from a platform they will consider to be trustworthy.
In short, it seems that immigration has a tight grip on the news agenda just now, but remember all the forces at play that are making this so and be careful not to get swept up in the tide.
