World Immigration News

Language on immigration in UK news and politics found to have ‘shaped backlash against antiracism’

Release Date: 2025-08-02
Media: The Guardian
Summary: A new report by the Runnymede Trust, titled A Hostile Environment: Language, Race, Surveillance and the Media, finds that UK media and parliamentary language between 2019 and 2024 increasingly used hostile and racialized terms to describe immigrants, reinforcing negative public perceptions and fueling far-right sentiment. Analyzing over 63 million words from news articles and parliamentary debates, researchers found that the word "illegal" became even more strongly associated with “migrant” and “immigrant” than in the previous study covering 2010–2014, cementing a link between immigration and criminality.

The study also reveals that media portrayals of immigrants overwhelmingly evoke images of ethnically minoritized individuals, with strong associations to terms like “Mexican,” “Chinese,” “Indian,” “Muslim,” and “non-white.” Parliamentary discourse, meanwhile, tends to use more sympathetic language for Ukrainian migrants, such as “guest” or “brave,” highlighting inconsistencies in how different immigrant groups are represented.

The report argues that this language has helped justify increasingly harsh immigration policies and contributed to the normalization of surveillance. It also draws a connection between political rhetoric — including slogans like “Stop the Boats” — and real-world racist violence, such as the riots of summer 2024, suggesting that media and political narratives have emboldened extremist behavior.

In response to recent unrest, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stated that a new national strategy for community cohesion is being developed, with £1.5 billion invested in 75 areas across the UK. The Home Office declined to comment.
Tags: United Kingdom

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