Immigrants are not the problem. Let’s be clear about that. The families fleeing war, climate breakdown, or economic collapse, the people who come here to work and build a life, are not the reason wages have stagnated, rents are through the roof, or our public services are under strain. The real enemies are poverty, inequality, and those who profit from stirring up hatred while doing nothing to tackle the root causes of hardship.
Blaming immigrants is not some natural reaction to difficult times—it is a deliberate tactic. For decades, certain politicians and sections of the media have pushed the lie that newcomers are to blame for society’s failings. It’s a convenient distraction. If working people are busy pointing fingers at each other, they are not uniting to demand fair pay, affordable housing, well-funded schools, or properly resourced hospitals. Division protects those at the top, shielding them from scrutiny and accountability.
The facts tell a very different story. Immigrants contribute far more than they take. They pay taxes, start businesses, and work in the NHS, on building sites, in care homes and on farms—often in the jobs others refuse to do. They keep our society running. Meanwhile, the true drain on our resources comes from billionaires dodging taxes, profiteering landlords, and governments unwilling to invest in the very communities they neglect. Yet it is always easier for the powerful to point the finger at the vulnerable than to take responsibility for systemic failure.
Hatred is a profitable industry. Newspapers sell copies by whipping up fear. Politicians win votes by scapegoating migrants instead of offering solutions. All the while, poverty deepens, wages remain stuck, and families are driven to food banks in one of the richest countries in the world. Hatred blinds us to the truth: the system is broken, and those who benefit from it want us to keep fighting each other instead of fighting them.
If we are serious about fixing what is wrong, then solidarity is the only answer. That means demanding proper investment in schools, hospitals, social housing, and local services. It means raising wages and strengthening workers’ rights so that no one has to choose between heating and eating. It means building inclusive spaces—community centres, neighbourhood forums, grassroots groups—where people can connect across backgrounds and organise around shared interests. And it means holding the wealthy and powerful to account by clamping down on tax avoidance, regulating landlords, and making policy serve people rather than profit.
Immigrants are not destroying our society, but silence in the face of poverty, inequality and hate is. When we remain divided, the forces that thrive on fear and exploitation win. But when we come together, across class and culture, we have the power to demand something better. The choice is stark: either we unite to fight poverty and inequality, or we allow ourselves to stay divided while the real enemies carry on lining their pockets.
