What is We Wanted Workers about?

‘We wanted workers, but we got people instead,’ quipped Swiss writer Max Frisch in 1965. He was musing on the Swiss equivalent of the German ‘Gastarbeiter’, or guest worker, scheme of the 1960s. Many thousands of workers from abroad were invited to fill vacancies on supposedly temporary visas. Many ended up staying but the temporary nature of their visas meant they had few rights and access to citizenship was barred.

My name is Colin Yeo and I’m a barrister specialising in immigration law. I run the Free Movement website and I’m the author of Welcome to Britain, a book about recent immigration law and policy in the United Kingdom.

Immigration law and policy are a hot political topic but discussion of the issues barely scratches the surface, normally. Immigration policy is about who we are, what sort of society and economy we live in, how we pay for the things we need or like and more.

I am publishing two long reads per week during May and June and will then cut back to one per week after that. Topics on this free Substack will include things like

• Why the Conservative Party is the party of high net migration

• How can we judge success and failure in immigration policy?

• What can we learn from the major recent Australian review of their immigration policy?

• Can immigration policy ever be progressive?

• Us and them: where do we draw the line between insiders and outsiders?

• Is British nationality law fit for purpose?

• How might immigration policy harm citizens?

• What is the purpose of family immigration policy?

• Can it ever be reasonable to separate families?

• Do immigration laws really make any difference on the ground?

• Who are unauthorised migrants and how did they come to be unauthorised?

• Have human rights undermined migrants’ rights?

• How far has race influenced British immigration laws?

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