Voters will accept migrants from Canada, but not India, poll shows

British voters will accept more migrants from Australia and Canada, but not India or Korea, no matter what the trade deal, a poll reveals.

Only about a third of Britons were prepared to accept higher levels of immigration from countries such as India and South Korea that have been singled out as offering economic opportunities for Britain, the poll revealed.

Britons are unwilling to accept large increases in immigration in exchange for trade deals with key nations after Brexit, according to a poll.

Only about a third of people were prepared to accept higher levels of immigration from countries such as India and South Korea that have been singled out as offering economic opportunities for Britain. A majority supported more migration from Canada, Australia and the US but from nowhere else.

Official figures show net migration from outside the EU rising to the highest level for 14 years. It was at 261,000 in the year to last September while the figure from the EU had dropped to 57,000, the lowest in nine years.

It highlights a dilemma for the government which is pushing its view of a global Britain. The poll was part of a project being led by the British Foreign Policy Group and the Centre for Social and Political Risk at the Henry Jackson Society think tank.

Edward Elliott, a research manager, said: “Without an informed and truly national discussion that looks beyond the purely economic argument, the UK will struggle to address the public’s concerns around migration.”

Some 61 per cent of people were willing to accept higher levels of immigration from Canada, 60 per cent from Australia and 55 per cent from the US. Only 35 per cent said the same for India and South Korea. Only 9 per cent were willing to accept significantly higher levels from India, with similar percentages for South Africa and China.

The survey by BMG Research was based on a sample of 1,514 British adults aged 18 and over who were questioned online between January 8 and 11.

The Times