How immigration fears and far-right politics are reshaping Britain a decade after Brexit
LONDON: On June 23, it will be exactly 10 years since the UK voted narrowly to leave the EU, a decision driven primarily by concerns about what politicians campaigning for Brexit described as “out-of-control immigration.”
Britain, insisted the UK Independence Party in the run-up to the 2016 referendum, had to leave the EU in order to get control over its borders. Since then, however, successive governments have failed to address public concerns about immigration.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in the year ending June 2016, at the time of the Brexit vote, 758,000 immigrants arrived in Britain. In the year ending June 2025, there were 761,000 — slightly more.
Floral tributes for Henry Nowak are pictured outside of Portswood Police Station in Southampton, southern England, on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
