The Immigration Policy of The United Kingdom: British Exceptionalism and the Renewed Quest for Control

Abstract

This chapter examines the UK’s immigration and asylum policy, pointing out the rationales underlying each phase of its development throughout the years, and how they relate to the ongoing transformation of the European Union Migration System of Governance—as well as the yet-to-be-determined post-Brexit relationships between the European Union and the country. In investigating the degree to which the UK’s policy complies with the conceptions of justice considered in this book—non-domination, impartiality and mutual recognition—the chapter will investigate the logic of Britain’s ‘quest for control’ of its borders and the make-up of its population, its distinctive attitude towards the Union’s and the international regime of refugee protection, as well as prospects for the country’s future participation in the System of Governance.