Without realising it, Britain has become a nation of immigrants

In 2013 lifespring church moved from the suburbs into a former cinema near the centre of Reading. At the time, its congregation was small and not varied. “We moved in as a white middle-class church,” says Neville Hollands, a senior pastor. These days Lifespring has members born in more than 40 countries. The diversity of its congregation is reflected in the thicket of flags on both sides of the stage during Sunday services, where 300-odd people praise Jesus to the accompaniment of drums and power chords.

Immigration has transformed Lifespring Church, Reading and Britain itself. The 2021 census of England and Wales showed that 10m people, one-sixth of the population, were born outside the United Kingdom. That was a higher share than in America or any large European country except Germany. The proportion is almost certainly higher still today. The census took place near the beginning of a huge increase in net migration—immigration minus emigration—which quickly reached a record level (see chart 1).