Amid Anti-Migrant Protests, New UK Study Says Indians Are Central to Britain’s Economic and Social Backbone

By Tajdar H Zaidi

New Delhi. As anti-immigration protests erupt outside asylum accommodation centres across the United Kingdom and political rhetoric sharpens around “control” and reducing migrant numbers, a newly released white paper in London offers a powerful counter-narrative.

Rather than weakening Britain, it argues, migration—particularly from India—has repeatedly strengthened the country, sustained its institutions, and driven long-term economic progress.

The report, authored by Manish Tiwari of Here & Now 365 in collaboration with the Aston India Centre, traces four major waves of Indian migration since India’s independence.

Together, these waves form what the study describes as a continuous thread running through modern Britain’s recovery, enterprise culture, and global competitiveness.

A Timely Intervention in a Polarised Debate

The report’s release comes at a politically sensitive moment. The UK government is pursuing an immigration agenda focused on reducing net migration, tightening visa routes, and linking migration more closely to domestic skills training.

At the same time, tensions have spilt onto the streets.

Protests around hotels housing asylum seekers—documented widely by Reuters, including high-profile flashpoints in Epping, Essex—have become a visible symbol of the country’s fraught migration debate.

Against this backdrop, the white paper delivers a direct and uncompromising message: Britain’s economic resilience and institutional stability have repeatedly depended on Indian migrants stepping into roles the country could not fill on its own.

Four Waves That Shaped Modern Britain

According to the study, the first major wave of Indian migration arrived in post-war Britain, when the country faced severe labour shortages.

Indian workers were absorbed into manufacturing, transport, and public services, playing a critical role in rebuilding the economy.

Many were also foundational to the early functioning of the National Health Service, helping to sustain a system that remains central to British society.

The second wave followed the early-1970s expulsion of Asians from East Africa under Idi Amin. Many of these families, of Indian origin, arrived with limited resources but strong entrepreneurial instincts.

The report notes that they went on to establish businesses, revitalise struggling high streets, and embed a culture of enterprise across towns and cities that had been hollowed out by industrial decline.

A third shift came as Britain transitioned into a knowledge-driven economy. Indian migration increasingly comprised highly skilled professionals—doctors, engineers, academics, financiers, and scientists.

The report argues that this cohort played a significant role in enhancing Britain’s competitiveness in an increasingly globalised world, particularly in healthcare, education, and financial services.

The Post-Brexit Reality: Skills Britain Cannot Afford to Lose

It is the fourth wave—emerging after Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic—that the report says is most relevant to today’s political climate. Indian professionals, it argues, have become strategically vital in addressing Britain’s most acute skills shortages.

One figure highlighted in the study is already resonating widely: Indian-born professionals are estimated to make up around 15 per cent of the UK’s technology workforce.

In a country that brands itself as a global science and technology hub, this statistic underscores the extent to which Indian talent underpins innovation, digital infrastructure, and future growth.

The white paper also notes that the Indian community ranks among the UK’s most economically successful migrant groups, marked by high employment rates, strong educational attainment, and significant contributions to entrepreneurship and tax revenues.

Why Britain Sees Indians as Its Backbone

Taken together, the report argues, Indian migration has not been a peripheral phenomenon but a structural pillar of modern Britain.

At multiple points of national stress—post-war reconstruction, industrial decline, globalisation, and post-Brexit adjustment—Indian migrants have filled gaps, built institutions, and driven economic momentum.

At a time when migration is increasingly framed as a burden, the study urges policymakers and the public to recognise a more complex reality: Britain’s past recovery and future prosperity are deeply intertwined with the contributions of Indian migrants.

Far from weakening the country, the report concludes, they have helped Britain hold together—and move forward—when it mattered most.

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