On 9 July 2024, the Right to Remain community gathered online to share information and analysis, build solidarity, and plan our next steps following the results of the UK General Election.

There was clearly a sense of urgency that we needed to get together to take stock of the situation. Despite  very short notice, over 100 people immediately signed up to attend the Solidarity Session, and many more joined the waiting list. This sense of urgency seemed to have acted as a unifying force for the often fragmented social justice field: we were excited to welcome participants from many different sectors, not just the migration justice sector, including but not limited to:

• healthcare professionals
• homelessness charities
• work exploitation groups 
• faith groups
• local authorities  
• student groups 
• detention visitors’ groups 
• legal practitioners 

Right to Remain has prioritised relationship building over the last 2.5 years, through our (sometimes madly) busy schedule of Knowledge is Power workshops, Toolkit Festivals, “Illegal” Migration Act workshops, Solidarity Sessions and other strategic convenings. One of the things this has taught us is the importance of building our movement’s energy level, when the relentless Hostile Environment tries to break us. And that energy can come from a simple but careful act of sharing and valuing our own experiences and planning our next steps together. 

The primary focus of the session, therefore, was not to provide an expert account of the election results, but to understand how we are experiencing its impact and build knowledge about this new political reality together, to build more radical solidarity and step into our power as a community.

We began the session by launching two simple polls, to get a temperature check of how participants were feeling: 

1. What impact do you think the Labour government will have on refugee and migrant communities?

• Positive
• Negative
• No difference
• Only time will tell

2. Under the Labour government, do you think our work to achieve migration justice will be:

• Easier
• More difficult
• The same as before
• Only time will tell

To both questions, the majority of participants responded that they feel that only time will tell. 

The Right to Remain team then broadly set the scene for the session, providing a brief presentation and overview of the results of the General Election, including the fact that there 334 are new Members of Parliament (MPs), who count for 51% of total MPs. We also spent some time contemplating the new multi-party Parliament, made up of a historic number of Independent MPs, 4 Green Party MPs, and 5 Reform MPs as well. 

We then shared what we at Right to Remain have been working on, in relation to the election and the new government: 

• Encouraging our community to “Make the Toolkit and your MP work for you” by using the Toolkit as a calling card. Read our Legal Update blog to find out more about how to do this.
  
• Running Solidarity Sessions such as this one to create space for taking stock, analysis and planning.

• Building on the Rwanda “movement moment”, by helping grassroots groups across the UK to strengthen their local migration justice work.
  
• Reminding people that parliamentary politics is not everything – we need to survive, regardless of what is in the headlines or on the national agenda. We are exploring ways to mainstream migration justice, so that everyone cares for each other regardless of their immigration status. We believe this is particularly important to prevent anti-migration sentiments gaining ground in local areas. 

Our communities’ hopes and fears

We then moved onto an informal large group discussion to hear more and learn from other people’s experiences. We shared the following prompts:

• What was the campaigning period like for you? Did migration and asylum come up as an issue in your area?

• Have there been major changes in your area? Are they new MPs? 

• Do you have a post-election plan?

We were really pleased to have people from across the UK, including Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, sharing their specific experiences and how parliamentary politics in Westminster have / not affected their local work. For example, participants who had previous MPs who had been “onside” or who shared the same political views are now gearing up to build relationships and share resources with new MPs who may not share the same views or who are new to parliamentary politics. Our community members are framing this as an opportunity to engage with MPs who are not part of an echo chamber of like-minded people.

The final segment of the Solidarity Session was dedicated to small group discussions geared towards what action we can take within our communities and as a collective group. We asked the participants to contemplate the following questions:

• What are your hopes and concerns now that the General Election is over? 

• Are you planning any specific post-election action? If so, what are they? 

The following hopes were highlighted in answer to the first questions were: 

• Hope that the Government sorts out asylum accommodation – people not dropping off a cliff after getting status, and asylum accommodation being better and not just a way of lining the pockets of private providers – shutting barracks and Bibby. 
• Hopeful for positive movement on the right to work and improved services to support integration, e.g English classes more accessible.
• Hopeful that the Scottish government implements its promise of free bus travel for asylum seekers. 
• Concerns that Labour will give with one hand and take with the other.
• Hopeful we’ll be heard in advocating for a more compassionate system to our Lib Dem MP.  
• Resetting relations with [Republic] of Ireland.

Some of the concerns that were raised showed the interlinked nature between migration justice issues and wider societal issues:

• Labour leaning into/placating far right – ‘smashing the gangs’ – different language, same outcome. Worried about a shift to the right. 
• Continuing concerns around use of hotels, barges, the housing crisis. 
• Although Rwanda [plan] has been scrapped, there may be an increase in deportations to home countries to ‘clear the backlog’. 
• Concerns that Labour will give with one hand and take with the other.
• E-visas, data collection, sharing GPS tagging. Big concerns. 

Looking to the future 

At the start of the session, many gave a verdict of ‘only time will tell’ on the future of the migration justice movement under the Labour government. Yet by the time we started wrapping up the session, participants actually had lots of ideas and plans for action. 

Regarding post-election action, participants shared that they would be:

• Producing briefing for MPs re impact of IMA [Illegal Migration Act] on children, asking for repeal.
• Sharing talking points with supporters on our three main asks for the new government  until the end of the year: ensuring right to asylum, end to detention, ending the hostile environment. Hopefully this will take the form of infographics, wording to use when talking to others, and so on… still thinking! 
• Campaigning for demands around safe routes to Labour MPs.
• [Providing] details on the new MP and work to collaborate with the new MP to facilitate a drop in and get a better idea directly of the issues presented by those in asylum. 
• Team discussion on how we incorporate campaigning and casework in our organisational work.
• Communicating the information I’ve gathered here today to our pool of volunteers to encourage them to feel part of a migration justice movement. 
• I am going to become much more politically engaged. I will share my knowledge and passion for these issues which impact so many people adversely. I want to build radical solidarity and help to build knowledge into all I do as a volunteer…
• [Campaigning] to end immigration detention!
• Sharing the Right to Remain toolkit – and further emphasising the importance of legal support.

A big thank you to everyone who attended the session, and we hope people found it beneficial, despite a number of fears we might have. It was certainly energising for us to be amongst our communities that remain full of ideas and willingness to create a better future for all of us. 

If you would also like to take action, but don’t know where to start, take a look at our Open Letter addressed to our communities to learn more. 

Next, are running an in-person Solidarity Session in Manchester on 18 July, with many of our close allies in the city. We will be reporting back.