ABSTRACT
This chapter explores patterns of politicisation of immigration in Britain. The first section focuses on the history of immigration into this country since 1945 and the emergence of a mainstream party consensus based on restrictive immigration legislation paired with anti-discrimination legislation, which characterised the period from the mid-1960s until the late 1990s. The second section analyses patterns of politicisation, exploring the levels of salience, polarisation and ‘frames’ employed in the debate, especially during 1995–2009 which constitutes the empirical core of the study. The third section examines potential explanations for the relatively high levels of public concern about immigration and integration, focusing especially on: key social developments; the actions of specific groups; the impact of policies; and the nature of the ‘political opportunity structure’ (POS) (see Chapter 1 on the common framework used in analysing countries in this volume).
