UK tabloids and the EU referendum: giving us the facts?

Recently, I encountered a headline in The Sun entitled ‘Pole Chancers’. The article beneath the headline reported that a Polish newspaper had published a 20-page report aimed at convincing Poles to come to the UK because of the country’s generous welfare system. The Sun mentioned that this behaviour occurs amid fears of increased migration in the context of the forthcoming EU referendum.

I decided to do a bit of checking. As it turns out, most of the claims that the article made are true – sort of. The UK-based weekly newspaper, Polish Express, did publish a Polish-language booklet regarding benefits rights in the UK. It comes under a section on the website’s Polish version, labelled ‘advice-books’ (Poradniki) and a subheading under that labelled ‘Benefits’ (Zasiłki). But, upon reading the actual document, the following quickly becomes clear: it is intended simply as a ‘know your rights as an emigrant’ guide, aimed at Poles already living in Britain. One does not learn anything more from it than one could by reading an advice guide for UK residents on the subject.

What is striking about this article is the manner in which it clearly reflects how the triumvirate of British tabloid papers – the Sun, the Mail and the Express – report issues related to EU migration, especially in the run-up to Britain’s referendum on EU membership. They are some of the most read papers in the UK and their style of reporting spins facts whose interpretations cannot be easily verified (or, for that matter, disproved) by the broader public. Even when the claims made by an article seem blatantly vague or suspect, it is not important. The point seems not to inform, but to obfuscate – to plant an idea in the reader’s minds: EU migration is a threat. Vote out.

Why is this important? Much economic data – facts that these same papers seem loathe to publish – tell a far different story. Although studies differ as to exactly how much, many conclude that EU migrants not only are greater contributors to the government’s coffers than non-EU immigrants, but also more than British citizens themselves. Further, there is little evidence to suggest that migration drags down wage rates, or has an overtly negative impact on employment levels in the longer term. It can even stand to boost productivity. As such, it can be argued that EU migration has been a largely positive aspect of the UK’s membership of the European Union.

Yet, by placing figures and events out of their broader situational and economic contexts, readers of these papers get a completely different picture. A recent Express article claimed that there are 1.3 million more EU migrants in the UK than the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is willing to admit – because of ‘National Insurance data discrepancies’. The number sounds shockingly large and, whilst some attempt is made to explain the ONS data, the unsuspecting reader comes away with the suspicion that the UK is being overrun by EU immigrants and that the government does not want to reveal the ‘real’ extent of EU migration as the referendum approaches. This logic becomes self-reinforcing: the more the existence of said migration as a menace is denied, the more the ONS is seen as having reason to hide the ‘true’ extent of the problem until after June’s vote.