ABSTRACT
The state of solidarity in the UK is weakening on regional, national as well as transnational levels. Since the economic crisis in 2010, the British welfare state has suffered consequences affecting the most vulnerable groups in society. Beyond traditional class struggles, the cohesion of the country has been shattered by new identity struggles and long-seated conflicts between the English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh nations. Although pro-immigration Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have exerted some influence over national policy-making, empirical evidence from news content analysis points to the dominance of political elites not only in news discourse, but also in Great Britain’s restrictive immigration policies. Leading up to the ‘refugee crisis’ the term ‘mass migration’ was a dominant term used across newspapers. Social media users on British newspapers’ Facebook commenting pages express themselves in a predominantly negative way with regard to the question of refugee solidarity.
