Fools United: Want control over immigration in Wales? There’s only one answer for that…

Stephen Price

Eating humble pie for breakfast on 24 June 2016 – a day us ‘Remoaners’ will never forget – I recall making a Facebook status, back when they were a thing, quoting Catatonia’s immortal line, ‘Fools get votes in a democracy‘ from a lesser-known track called Fuel.

I’d spent months upon months laughing off suggestions that Brexit would happen, foolishly reassuring a Polish friend that it was not even the remotest possibility.

Looking back, however, the writing was on the wall – many spotted said writing, of course, but not me.

Chatting to those in the leave camp back then – friends, strangers, colleagues and even family members, there was one driving factor behind their impulse – not NHS funding, EU rules or the like, but control, and specifically control over immigration. ‘Visible’ migration, that would be.

Did anyone really buy the false hope? I’m not so sure. But for many, the simple act of feeling empowered, even if it meant shooting one’s self and one’s fortunes, and the fortunes of generations to come, in the foot, felt long overdue.

Cue Brexit, and a withdrawal of the ‘invisible’ migration – our European brothers and sisters – and the UK Government laid out plans to increase the shortfall of migration from outside the EU.

It’s safe to say, then, that the foot-shooting didn’t quite go to plan. No one in charge is paying attention to anything but the numbers on the spreadsheet – GDP that is – and more people means more money, sod happiness, cohesion and functionality. Sod democracy even!

The latest census data suggests that in 2021/22, there were:

7 million people living in the UK who were born abroad (16% of the total population).

Of these, 4.0 million (6% of the population) were born in EU countries, while 6.8 million (10% of the population) were born outside the EU.

D Clark writes on Statista: “In the year to June 2025, approximately 898,000 people migrated to the United Kingdom, while 693,000 people migrated from the country, resulting in a net migration figure of 204,000.

“There have consistently been more people migrating to the United Kingdom than leaving it since 1993 when approximately 1,000 more people left the country than arrived.

Although migration from the European Union has declined since the Brexit vote of 2016, migration from non-EU countries accelerated rapidly from 2021 onwards. In the year to June 2023, 968,000 people from non-EU countries migrated to the UK, compared with 129,000 from EU member states.”

Brexit means… more of what its champions didn’t ask for

With a disastrous change in fortunes for Boris Johnson, followed by star turns from Theresa ‘Dancing Queen’ May and *thinks* Liz the Lettuce and Rishi, voters had no choice but to turn to Labour for some order, but again, the spiralling continued and continues only in red rather than blue.

Ripe, then, for some new kids on the block.. A new party.. No, wait.. for Reform?

Co-founded by Farage and Catherine Blaiklock in 2018 as the Brexit Party, the party has been given its lifeblood by the media since 2021, when it changed its name to Reform UK.

The 2024 General Election was a given for Labour following the Tories’ dropped balls – many of those around immigration – but as many people pointed out at the time, the Tories lost, Labour didn’t win through any real merit.

Picking up 8 MPs, Reform – way behind Labour’s 403 majority, and even The Conservatives’ 116 and Lib Dems’ 72 – know how to court the media, or should that be, the media know what gets clicks… Should one switch on the TV (I’m out now, personally), then you’d be given credit for thinking Reform were in triple, even double figures, but no, Farage makes good TV.

Go online to a news site (I’ve also had enough, but I’ve got dogs to feed and Council Tax to pay…), and yet again it’s Reform.com left right and centre.

Again: Lifeblood. Attacks often emboldening their supporters who see valid investigative journalism as the work of ‘the establishment’ or Labour and Plaid supporting brown-nosed-journos worried about their funding (sorry to break it to you, but paid subscribers and ads just about keep the good guys going).

Fast forward to the Senedd Election – with Brexit-style false hope narratives abounding, and the Starmer-led Government’s inability to simply steady the ship or show respect for Wales  – and Reform’s ‘rise’ (or should that be descent?) has been inevitable.

And why are they gaining such support? Anger and frustration at the cost of living, the state of it all in fact, but also, undoubtedly, immigration concerns being overlooked and brushed aside with politics-speak and tied-hands yet again.

“Time to shoot ourselves in the other foot then…”

Senedd Powers

As the majority of us in Wales already know, we’re the poorer relation compared to Scotland and Northern Ireland when it comes to powers.

Where powers are equal across the UK’s devolved nations, however, are on immigration. Put simply, we each have none – only the UK Government has those.

And just as Eluned has stressed that the Senedd election is “not an election about Keir Starmer”, it also isn’t an election about immigration.

Jack Henry put it perfectly on X recently, writing: “Immigration is not a devolved area.

“The fact Reform try to make you believe this, is deeply concerning and deliberately misleading.”

Immigration is not a devolved area.

The fact Reform try to make you believe this, is deeply concerning and deliberately misleading.

An independent Wales *will* have powers over immigration. Reform don’t support independence.

If you want change, vote @Plaid_Cymru https://t.co/W18FhnmFsb

— Jack Henry 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@JHenryCDF) May 12, 2025

As the Caerphilly by-election proved, half-truths and a hefty dose of winging-it and preying on immigration fears can be seen through by many, but still, immigration keeps on raising its head in Senedd election chatter in subtle and unsubtle ways.

The concept of the Nation of Sanctuary seems too difficult for Reform and the Tories to grasp, but as Jane Hutt shared back in February: “Over this Senedd term, our approach has provided consistent, practical support to people placed in Wales and seeking sanctuary, helping them rebuild their lives and contribute to the well-being of Wales. Although delivery of the Nation of Sanctuary approach represents only around 0.05% of the Welsh Government’s overall budget, its impact across integration, community cohesion and people’s wellbeing is clear.

“It is important to clarify what the Nation of Sanctuary approach does – and what it does not do. It does not decide who comes to the UK; immigration and asylum decisions rest entirely with the UK Government. Our role in Wales is to shape people’s experience once they arrive, ensuring they can access mainstream services from day one, receive accurate information, and rebuild their lives with dignity.”

So there you have it, Wales has no powers over immigration. None, dim byd, zilch.

The Nation of Sanctuary is simply a policy that reflects who Welsh people, the Welsh people I know and love, are at their core: a nation of community. Although a people whose fates and fortunes are still decided by the land next door, unfortunately.

Repeating Jane Hutt’s words again, the Nation of Sanctuary “does not decide who comes to the UK; immigration and asylum decisions rest entirely with the UK Government”.

For those voting in the Senedd election with immigration their chief concern, Jack Henry, again, couldn’t have put it better: “An independent Wales *will* have powers over immigration. Reform don’t support independence.”

An independent Wales is the only version of Wales that can fully decide its fate with regards to immigration – most of which comes from Reform-approved white English folk anyway, but Reform is naturally silent about their impact on Wales’ health services, housing and culture.

Casting a vote for any party that rules out healthy dialogue about independence, as is the case with Reform, Labour, Tories and Lib Dems, is to continue to support immigration as it currently stands.

While Plaid have no current plans for an independence referendum, they are at least grown up and brave enough to imagine things being different.

The fool is always the person on the other side of the political spectrum – “not me, but you” – but both fools should at least be united on one point around immigration this May: Wales has no power, and no voice, while we’re a part of the United Kingdom.

Doom looms large on my horizon
Mountain toxic river poison
Fools get votes in a democracy
Fools get votes in a democracy