Four in 10 Britons (42%) said immigration had been bad for the country, the second lowest rate after Denmark across the countries surveyed, three in 10 felt it had been both good and bad, and 21% said it had been mostly good – the highest of the seven.
Of five possible responses ranging from “much too high” to “much too low”, the most common in all seven countries was that immigration had been “much too high” over the past 10 years – 61% of Germans, 54% of Spaniards and 50% of Britons chose this.
Days after the far right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) doubled its score in a German election dominated by the question, the YouGov poll found majorities in all seven countries surveyed felt immigration had been excessive.
Most western Europeans think immigration over the past decade has been too high and their governments have handled it badly, with more believing immigration has been negative for their country than not, a survey has shown.
Majorities in all seven countries were critical of their government’s approach to immigration, with as many as 83% in Germany and 80% in France saying authorities there had handled the issue badly.
