But Dr Eamonn Butler of the Adam Smith Institute does not believe xenophobia is the prerogative of the right.
"People on the left might welcome world socialism, but when it comes to people coming from other countries and taking their jobs they are not so keen," he says.
He believes that stopping the movement of workers would be counterproductive and that we actually need people to move between nations.
"A lot of countries send labour abroad and it is good for people in poorer countries to go abroad and send money back home," he says.
"The best sort of world is one in which people are free to migrate over the long term," he maintains.
"What we have at the moment is governments deciding who will be admitted into the country.
"They tend to resist inward migration and eventually, at some point when skills are in short supply, they give in so you get a massive surge."
Massive movements are most difficult to deal with and it is hard to convince people that the lower paid worker is a benefit to the country.
"We have to be very careful about a rise in anti-immigrant animus," he warns.
Published on The BBC here
