Boris Johnson has been freshly elected as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [there are some who are stating that he has been chosen by a small proportion of due paying conservatives and not by the country as whole #NotmyPM]. As with every new political leader, it is fascinating to try to decode the truth behind their victory statements and plans. Boris Johnson’s views on immigration are different.

Johnson has always been one of the biggest proponents of Britain’s departure from the UK aka Brexit, making sense that it would be him who gets elected to lead the country in the first elections post Brexit. (Read: How a day in life post Brexit might look like)

However what is important to note is that Brexit itself was heavily based around the idea of immigration, and what it means to the British people. Therefore the question that begs to be asked right now is, what are the current British Prime Minister’s views on immigration?

And more importantly, can we trust them?

It’s one thing to make statements, but another to make statements when you are leading a nation. More complicated still is to back those statements up as the leader of a nation, whose very definition of what a nation means has been repeatedly shaken over the last decade.

Since the last place you can find the truth in times like these is through the actual statements of the people involved (Boris Johnson’s immigration plans), what we can do is look at his track record in the past with his opinions on immigration related issues and build a conclusion along that regarding what the UK’s ruling party’s stance on immigration is going to look like in the months and years to come.

And that is exactly what we have done here in SmartMove immigration with the goal of providing you with the best source of perspectives, ideas, thoughts and opinions on UK immigration in the internet. (The SmartMove2UK Blog)

So what has Boris Jonson’s past revealed to us about what the UK’s prospects on immigration look like in the times to come, Brexit and beyond?

According to a report published by The Independent, when voting on matters of UK immigration, Johnson tends to vote for stronger immigration enforcement and for a stricter asylum system. The new Prime Minister has previously voted against scrapping the immigration detention of pregnant women, while voting for making it a criminal offence for people to work if their immigration status prohibits it. Johnson has also been accused of exaggerating claims and stoking fears about Turkish immigrants during his referendum campaign in 2016, an accusation he strongly denies.

On a more positive note, Mr Johnson has in the past proposed the idea of an Australian-style, points-based UK immigration system (during his Vote Leave referendum campaign of 2016). But now let’s jump into the present and see how that fares with his plans for the future.

In the run up to his election as Prime Minister by his fellow Tory Party members, Johnson made several high profile pledges, one of which included introducing a UK visa and immigration system similar to the one operated by Canada and Australia.

During the battle to become the next UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt did agree that May’s target is unrealistic, while a report published by think tank British Future, urged the next Prime Minister to scrap the target.

When asked, during several media interviews and discussions if he would cut net UK immigration numbers, Johnson refused to commit to any kind of target, which many have viewed as a betrayal of the Brexit vote on his part.

When asked about his plans to reduce net immigration figures, the British PM said: “What I want to see with immigration is control, but I’m not going to get into the numbers.” – displaying a preference for not going in to details.

Going by an analysis of his track record on immigration control, followed by a plan on points based immigration for the UK, we believe that Boris Johnson can make immigration work for everyone as the new British PM. More control, the better. But will this control lie in fair hands? That remains to be seen.

Whatever be the case, you will hear it first on The SmartMove2UK. For regular updates from the best source of perspectives on immigration law in the internet, be sure to subscribe to The SmartMove2UK newsletter by sending an email to info@smartmove2uk.com

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