Securitising the Other: Politicisation, Racialisation, Immigration in the United Kingdom

This study investigates how political and media actors in the United Kingdom have weaponised immigration discourse to secure electoral advantage by framing migrants as existential threats to national security, economic stability, and cultural identity. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the paper systematically examined 150 articles from The Guardian and The Telegraph, parliamentary debates, and policy documents between 2000 and 2021. The analysis identifies three dominant discursive strategies: the securitisation of migrants through metaphors of invasion and criminality, the economic bifurcation of immigrants as either ‘contributors’ or ‘burdens,’ and the racialised construction of British identity in opposition to immigrant ‘others’. Findings reveal that political rhetoric systematically marginalises migrants to legitimise exclusionary policies, reinforcing structural inequities tied to racial capitalism. By integrating discourse analysis with securitisation theories and social identity, this study contributes to political science by demonstrating how immigration narratives serve electoral objectives while perpetuating systemic marginalisation. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to reframe migration debates around integration and equity. This study contributes to scholarship by employing critical discourse analysis, showing how the UK’s political figures weaponise racialise migrants as threats to rationalise exclusionary policies and secure electoral advantage.