The rights of non-UK EU citizens living here are not a 'done deal'. This is why

The issue of the post-Brexit rights of EU citizens living in the UK was settled at the end of Phase 1 of the negotiations - or was it? Alexandra Bulat (SSEES, University of London) says many people are still 'in limbo' - worried that a lack of sickness insurance, past criminal convictions or even civil fines will lead to their deportation. For those with the right resources, obtaining settled status will probably not be difficult, though they may not enjoy the same rights as they did. The more vulnerable risk being left without the means to prove their right to live in the UK, open a bank account or get a job

'The brightest and best', us - and the rest: desirable and undesirable migration in EU referendum leaflets

How did the leaflets circulated before the EU referendum talk about migrants? Alexandra Bulat (UCL SSEES) examines the LSE's collection and finds - on both sides - a distinction between 'desirable' and 'undesirable' migrants, whether from within or outside the EU. At no point were the views of the migrants themselves heard. Researchers agree that immigration, alongside economics, were the ..

Soundbites won't help migrants - policy change will

"It's worth bearing in mind that when we talk about immigrants in this country, these are immigrants currently saving people's lives", Piers Morgan commented on Good Morning Britain last week. his statement would have rung true if said last month, last year, during the EU referendum campaign or at any time in the recent history of migration to the UK. These positive arguments about migration are rarely heard in the mainstream media. The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis brought about a change, at least on the surface, in the rhetoric on immigration. In this blog, Alexandra Bulat (UCL) argues that soundbites won’t help migrants – policy change will

Brexit is happening – are EU citizens’ rights finally a done deal?

As the UK formally leaves the European Union this week, and enters the transition period, Alexandra Bulat assesses the flaws in the EU citizens’ Settlement Scheme and argues that it still undermines the fundamental rights of those affected

The rights of non-UK EU citizens are still not a ‘done deal’

In his first appearance in the House of Commons as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said that non-UK EU citizens would be ‘guaranteed’ the right to stay after Brexit, restating an earlier promise. However, the government has proposed no new primary legislation to achieve this. Alexandra Bulat explains how the existing settled status scheme still falls short of enshrining automatic rights, and how a ‘no deal’ Brexit would mean further uncertainties and inequalities in EU citizens’ rights

London Calling Brexit: it’s not about Britain and Europe, it’s about Barnet High Street and All Saints’ School

The London Borough of Barnet is one of the five local authority areas selected for the LSE project ‘Understanding Brexit impacts at a local level’. These reports contextualise the Brexit impact studies carried out at a national level with qualitative evidence collected at the local level. In this blog, another in our London Calling Brexit series, Alexandra Bulat (SSEES, University of London) recounts what she found about what matters to the people living in Barnet. She discovered that they are not concerned about Britain and Europe, but rather about Barnet High Street and All Saints’ School

Young Europeans feel uninformed about their rights post-Brexit

Young Europeans are an ‘easy to reach’ group – yet many feel uninformed about their rights post-Brexit, and unrepresented in UK politics. In this blog, Alexandra Bulat (the3million) presents a summary of key findings from the3million Young Europeans Report

Outside the "London bubble": listening to views on Brexit and migration in Jaywick

Jaywick is a Leave-supporting village in Essex, and one of the most deprived areas of the UK. Alexandra Bulat (SSEES, University of London) talked to some of the people living there about migration and Brexit

Growing up abroad: Italian and Romanian migrants’ partial transitions to adulthood

Drawing on in-depth interviews with young Italians and Romanians, representing two of the largest “old” and “new” European populations in Britain, this paper examines migrants’ experiences in the spheres of work, family, and “home”, and their narratives of “growing up” abroad, to enhance our understanding of youth transitions to adulthood in the context of intra-EU migration. Contrary to accounts that see migration as a strategy to either delay or advance adulthood, our analysis offers a more complex picture, showing how migration may unevenly affect transitions to adulthood, advancing some, and delaying others. Furthermore, we extend debates around the meaning of adulthood, illustrating the central role migration plays in generating feelings of “growing up”, even when traditional markers of adulthood are absent, and how these are negotiated transnationally in relation to home-based peers, in ways that combine old and new understandings of adulthood

Deep machine learning provides state-of-the art performance in image-based plant phenotyping

Deep learning is an emerging field that promises unparalleled results on many data analysis problems. We show the success offered by such techniques when applied to the challenging problem of image-based plant phenotyping, and demonstrate state-of-the-art results for root and shoot feature identification and localisation. We predict a paradigm shift in image-based phenotyping thanks to deep learning approaches