BBC NEWS ONLINE: Crossing Divides: Has the UK changed its mind on immigration?

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Prof Rob Ford, who researches immigration trends at the University of Manchester, said such positivity surrounding migration into the UK would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

He said the reasons behind the trend remained unclear but that it mirrored what he had seen in other data.

"It's at odds with what we've seen about [sentiment towards] migration in the past because immigration levels are still very high, so it's not that the public is seeing more control over numbers," he said.