Today the Guardian makes the unusual move of devoting much of its opinion site and its long read to a single subject: immigration.
That’s not because, for all the frequently heard complaints, immigration is a taboo subject, one that is not discussed enough. It’s discussed plenty. The problem is the way we talk about it.
Too often both sides of the immigration debate – for and against – speak about immigration in transactional terms, arguing over what it does for and to us. Opponents say migrants are a drain on the economy; defenders say they add to the country’s prosperity and cultural richness. What’s missing is the experience of migrants themselves.
Today we aim to correct that, with 100 voices of those who have moved here. What pushed them away from their first homes? What pulled them to these shores? What new lives are they making in Britain?
The long read tells for the first time the true story of how New Labour opened Britain’s doors to newcomers from eastern Europe.
In Opinion, the former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie comes out as a pro-immigration enthusiast, the actor and writer Meera Syal remembers growing up as a daughter of migrants, and the economist Paul Ormerod argues that the left has got it wrong on immigration, while the former home secretary David Blunkett offers a mea culpa of his own.
There is no shortage of heat around immigration. We hope to shed some fresh light.
