A good read covering immigration policies over the years - thanks for pointing me at it.

This quote stood out:

“They are terrified of the thought that any concession by them that can be perceived as soft or liberal or sympathetic, might leak out and be another set of Daily Mail or Sun or Telegraph stories,”

There is a really toxic and dangerous relationship between a large segment of the British media (especially the tabloid press), a large segment of the British public, and the government. It very often feels like the likes of the Daily Mail are the tail that wags the dog, and I just can't see how this long-running status quo can ever end.

Interesting. Personally, I feel that the Guardian, its readers, and government and media elites, are the ones in a toxic and dangerous love triangle. Do either of these ideas really mean anything more than "I disagree with the other side"?

I don't simply mean "I disagree with the other" side though.

I mean it feels like there is something very corrupt about the way the British public is kept whipped up into a FUD-driven frenzy by the tabloid press, and that the government (whether Labour or Conservative) seemingly makes many decisions to pander to that segment, rather than based on what's actually best for the country and all of it's people.

Ah, but you see, it feels like there is something very corrupt about the way that elites live in a self-reinforcing bubble padded out by Left media, and making decisions based on that fantasy, rather than what's actually best for the country and all of its people....

it multiple toxic love triangles varying on the policy/issue in question, department, party in power, and media provider.

I know how: fill The Guardian's pages with many nearly naked women from Love Island. Along with lowest common denominator gossip

Wow, the parallels between that and our Department of Home Affairs here in Australia are striking. I guess it’s not surprising, I think it was modelled on the UK’s Home Office when they put it together six or seven years ago. It has similarly been a disaster, but the people in charge love the power, so it won’t be broken back up into separate departments as it was before…