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Statistics relating to UK immigration can generate an enormous amount of publicity. They appear in national newspapers, often accompanying alarmist articles, and filter into Whitehall policy divisions. The Migration Observatory, an Oxford-based think-tank, has sought to challenge the reliance on these ‘facts’ in the public debate on UK immigration. The centre released a report in 2011 critically analysing how figures are collated and used. Net migration numbers have... Read more »

John Vine, Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency UK published the report of an Investigation into Border Security Checks in February this year. This sparked an announcement by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, on 20 February 2012 that the UK Border Agency has been split in two from March 2012. The UKBA was set up in 2008 to replace the Home Office’s Immigration Directorate which was declared "not fit for purpose”. It is currently responsible for securing the... Read more »

The 'Migrations' exhibition currently showing at the Tate Britain highlights the contribution of migrants to British art and the wider cultural landscape. The exhibition includes paintings dating from the 16 th century, works by refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe and pieces by contemporary artists. Telegraph art critic Richard Dorment describes how it shows that "whatever vitality British painting has ever had depended on the presence here of foreign-born artists". The opening... Read more »

It is estimated that 20,000 people will be granted a UK visa for the upcoming Olympic Games, which will allow them into the country for a maximum period of six months. The UK Border Agency has confirmed that one of the conditions of the Olympic visit visas granted to visiting athletes, coaches and other officials for London's Olympics Games will be to bar them from forming any civil partnerships or from marrying while in the UK as well as from undertaking a course of study in the UK.... Read more »