The ‘hostile environment’ was the proud creation of a government keen to reassure voters that it had immigration under control; at the same time, our television screens showed us pictures of refugees drowning in the Mediterranean and a country riven with discord unleashed by the EU referendum. When studies show the benefits of immigration and refute the idea that it places a strain on public services, where does this scapegoating come from? Maya Goodfellow marshals the latest research in this sharp-eyed investigation.

 

In conversation with Anoosh Chakelian, Britain Editor of the New Statesman