The case for an asylum amnesty

Many feared mass unemployment as a fallout from Covid-19. Instead, we have ended up with the opposite problem: a labour shortage. The lack of lorry drivers has led to some items missing from supermarkets. Pubs, restaurants and many other businesses are struggling to re-open as completely as they would like for want of adequate staff. As Matthew Lynn says in his article, the labour shortage has already had a positive effect on workers’ wages. The situation also presents a rare opportunity for long-overdue reforms elsewhere — particularly when it comes to processing asylum seekers.

For years, there was public concern that there were far more immigrants coming to work in Britain than ministers ever expected. Politicians from all parties preferred to dismiss the concern as nostalgia or xenophobia rather than address rational fears that salaries were being forced down or that public services were being squeezed. This was a fateful misdiagnosis.