An Open Letter to Keir Starmer

We, the undersigned, strongly advise against the proposed changes to the UK immigration system of May 12, 2025, and your associated rhetoric. We are UK-based academics and researchers with two sets of concerns:


First, the proposed changes are bad policy. They will make the lives of those in the visa routes harder and more insecure. They will also harm British citizens, placing our care and higher education sectors under further strain. Hurting the most vulnerable is exactly the opposite of what Labour should stand for.


Second, the government positioning itself as ‘tough’ on immigration and asylum will not have the intended effect of sidelining the far-right. We believe that accepting their core premise – the main problem facing the country is immigrants – only validates them. Attempting to outbid them with deportations and visa denials will always fall short. They will not be satisfied with falling net migration numbers. They will never be satisfied.


The far-right is on the rise globally. What is needed in this moment is a clear articulation of why they are wrong, and an aggressive defence of core liberal democratic values.



Signatories:
(To add your name, please submit the form at the end of the page.)



Julian Limberg
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, King's College London

Pierre-Louis  Vezina 
Professor of Economics, King's College London 

Robin Douglass
Professor of Political Theory, King's College London

Ian Levely
Lecturer in Economics, Department of Political Economy, King's College London

Ruvi Ziegler
Associate Professor in International Refugee Law, University of Reading; Research Associate, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

Miranda Simon
Senior Lecturer, University of Essex

Lilith Roberts
PhD Student in Psychology, University of Sheffield

Andrea Sangiovanni
Professor, Philosophy, King's College London

Roberto  Fumagalli
Senior Lecturer, Dept. Political Economy, King's College London 

Alasia Nuti
Senior Lecturer, University of York

Giulia Cavaliere
Lecturer in Engaged Philosophy, Philosophy, University College London

Michael Garnett
Senior Lecturer, King's College London

Jonathan Portes
Professor of Economics and Public Policy, King's College London

Clementine Beauvais
Associate Professor, Department of Education, University of York

Max Hayward
Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Political Philosophy, University of Sheffield

Edmund Sutcliffe
No Affiliation

Jeroen Gunning
Professor of Middle East Politics and Conflict Studies, King's College London 

Sean Danaher
Emeritus Professor of Engineering Physics, University of Northumbria

Eugene Lim
Professor, King's College London

Pascale Aebischer
Professor, University of Exeter

Josie Roux
PhD researcher, Philosophy Department, King's College London

Brigitte Nerlich
Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham

Malcolm Sawyer
Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Leeds

Renaud Morieux
Professor of European History, University of Cambridge 

Ofra Magidor
Professor of Philosophy, University of Oxford

Karsten Kohler
Associate Professor in Economics, University of Leeds

Matt Carr
Writer

Sarah Irving
Lecturer in Middle Eastern history, University of Staffordshire 

Jose Pina-Sanchez
Professor of Quantitative Criminology, University of Leeds.

Jonathan Gingerich
University College London 

Richard Freeman
Professor, University College London Institute of Education 

Loubna El Amine
Lecturer, King's College London

Anke Bernau
Senior Lecturer, University of Manchester

Liberty Severs
PhD candidate, University of Lisbon/Ruhr-University Bochum

Naomi Fulop
Professor of Health Care Organisation and Management, UCL

Richard Fox
Retired

Nicholas Watson
Professor of Disability Research, School of Social and Political Studies, University of Glasgow 

Rosa Hoekstra 
Professor of Developmental Disabilities, King's College London 

Frances Grahl
Lecturer, Critical and Historical Studies, Kingston University 

Douglas Lowe
RSE, University of Manchester

Francesca Vantaggiato
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, King's College London 

Vivien Fox
Lecturer, UAL

David Gordon
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Manchester

Alex Dennis
Lecturer, University of Sheffield

Gauthier Marchais
Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies

Tobias Ruttenauer
Assistant Professor of Quantitative Social Science, University College London

Nicola Green
Senior Lecturer, The University of Sheffield 

Caleb Day
Postgraduate researcher, Durham University

Ben Clift
Professor of Political Economy, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick 

Rhiannon Lockley
Lecturer, BCU, and University and College Union Equality Chair 

Lina Hakim
Senior Lecturer, Kingston University

Mark Doidge
Reader, Loughborough University 

Dion Georgiou
Associate Lecturer in History, Goldsmiths, University of London

Garrie Coleman
Stand Up to Racism - Organisning Committee member.

Laura Kelly
Professor of Modern Irish History, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Andy Aydin-Aitchison
Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Edinburgh

Lucy Mayblin
Senior Lecturer Sociology & Co-DIrector Migration Research Group, University of Sheffield

Elspeth Webb
Professor of Paediatrics & Child Health (retired), Cardiff University 

Kate Mathis
Lecturer, University of Edinburgh

John Reed Spiers
University of Glasgow

Duncan Moore
Research Fellow, SPRU, University of Sussex

Joanne Molyneux
Citizen. Believer in equality. 

Samuel  Grinsell 
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, University College London 

Sally Horrocks
Associate Professor in Contemporary British History, University of Leicester

Dr Anthony Sullivan
Senior Lecturer - London College of Fashion UAL 

Rebecca Brione
PhD student, King's College London

Sean Maroney
PhD Researcher and Teacher, King's College London. 

Grace Benita
Postgraduate Research Student, King's College London

Gwyneth Lonergan
Assistant Professor in Criminology and Sociology

Michael  Lane
Dr Michael Lane, Lecturer in Law, University of Worcester 

Mike Slaven
Associate Professor of International Politics, University of Lincoln

Manu De Rycker
Principal Investigator, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee

Will  Patterson
Post-Graduate Researcher in Philosophy, King's College London

Benedikt Mihm
Lecturer, University of Aberdeen

Rupert Waldron
Senior Lecturer London College of Fashion

Jonathan Leader Maynard
Senior Lecturer in International Politics, King’s College London

Clare Bielby
Senior Lecturer, Centre for Women's Studies, University of York

Nicoletta Asciuto
Senior Lecturer, Department of English, University of York

Alexander Guschanski
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich 

Federica Carugati
Senior Lecturer in History and Political Economy, King's College London

Stefanos Arvanitakis
PhD Candidate, King's College London

Matt Smith
Professor of Health History, University of Strathclyde

Cahir O'Kane
Professor of Genetics, University of Cambridge

Mark Hanson
Principal Investigator, immune and molecular evolution, University of Exeter

Melanie Bunting
Disabled Pensioner 

Louise Cooper
Labour Party member 

Alice Flinta
PhD associate fellow at the Centre for Women's Studies, University of York

Trev Broughton
Associate Reader, University of York

Emma Major
Senior Lecturer, University of York 

Helen Smith
Professor of Renaissance Literature, University of York

Hugh Haughton
Emeritus Professor of English, University of York

Boriana Alexandrova
Senior Lecturer in Women's and Gender Studies, University of York

Patrick Lown
Senior Research Fellow, University of Essex

Stephen Ollivier
Senior lecturer in English

Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Cambridge

Aidan McGlynn
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Edinburgh

Simon Hewitt
Associate Professor of Theology, University of Leeds

Kevin Killeen
University of York

Douglas Bamford
Lecturer in Lifelong Learning (Political Philosophy), University of Oxford

Jason Glynos
Professor, University of Essex

Paul Bou-Habib
Professor of Political Theory, University of Essex

Ruth Fletcher
Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London

Juliana Mensah
Senior Lecturer, University of York

William Crosby
Lecturer in Music, Sound, and Media @ Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge; Doctoral Researcher @ University of the Arts, London

Mollie Gerver
Lecturer in International Ethics, King's College London