The deep partisan divide on immigration evident here long predates Brexit. Indeed the past four years have paradoxically been ones of relative calm on this issue. Polls like this suggest that won’t last. Brexit will pass but Brexitland is here to stay. https://twitter.com/yougov/status/1293196614266507267
This is an interesting example of identity conflict in that both sides see the migrants from France as evidence of a broken asylum system but what they mean by “broken” is poles apart
Liberals see a system that is broken because it fails to respond to or protect those in urgent need. Conservatives see a system that is being broken by what they see as acceptance of abuse and rule breaking - economic migrants using a system designed for asylum.
Both sides regard the other’s framing of the issue as morally wrong - liberals are infuriated by conservative hard heartedness and inflexibility, conservatives are infuriated by liberal acceptance of fraud and rule breaking
The fact that just a few hundred migrant arrivals of this kind can shoot this issue back to the top of the media & political agenda in the midst of a once in a century pandemic is an ominous sign I think. Suggests identity conflicts of this kind retain extraordinary power.
Part of that power is that the media will focus on them and amplify them. But while the media amplifies the divides we see on such issues it doesn’t create them. They reflect different readings emphasising different aspects of a complex crisis in accordance with different values.
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