Your Voice on Immigration: Report on the findings from public deliberation on work-related immigration for the home affairs committee

Immigration is one of the most contested issues in British politics. Yet public debate is often dominated by the loudest voices, leaving little space for evidence, nuance or serious discussion of the trade-offs involved.

Your Voice on Immigration explores what happens when people are given the time, balanced information and space to deliberate on these difficult questions.

Commissioned by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee and delivered by Demos in partnership with the House of Commons and King’s College London, the project brought together 89 members of the public across North Tyneside, Leicester and Renfrewshire to consider how work-related immigration should be reduced.

Across the three workshops, participants approached the topic with the seriousness, depth and sensitivity needed to find substantial common ground across profound divides, resulting in the development of 13 consolidated principles that will guide the Committee’s scrutiny of government policy. 

The findings are a practical example of Everyday Democracy – our pillar of work which aims to build a new operating model for democracy by making participation, deliberation and shared governance a normal part of public life. Building on Demos’ previous work, Settling Up: A new deal to unlock immigration reform and build trust, this project shows how deliberation can help move beyond polarised debate, build understanding and strengthen the relationship between citizens and the institutions that represent them.

Read the accompanying technical report which sets out details of workshop design, evaluation methodology, recruitment and demographic make up of the participants, and the evidence participants were given.