Language on immigration in UK news and politics found to have ‘shaped backlash against antiracism’ | Immigration and asylum
By: Chris Osuh | Published: 2025-08-02 07:00:00 | Source: www.theguardian.com
A pattern of “hostile language” in news reports and UK parliamentary debates is more likely to describe people of colour as immigrants, or with less sympathy, researchers have found.
The race equality thinktank the Runnymede Trust analysed more than 63m words from 52,990 news articles and 317 House of Commons debates on immigration between 2019 and the general election in July 2024.
Researchers concluded that the use of language about race and immigration by media and politicians has helped shape “the increase in reactionary politics and backlash against antiracism which has emboldened the far right in this country”.
The report, A Hostile Environment: Language, Race, Surveillance and the Media is the second in a series. The first phase of the research analysed parliamentary and…
