‘Eight out of 10 Britons want full control of immigration’

EIGHT out of 10 Britons want to take back full control of immigration, a new survey reveals.

Research carried out by respected pollsters Ipsos Mori showed 81 per cent said it was “essential, very or fairly important” to gain control during ongoing Brexit talks.

The findings come after it was revealed net migration had added 250,000 people to the UK population each year for the past 12 years.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone said: “I think this latest poll underlines what has been obvious for some time – that is immigration is a very important issue for those who voted to leave the EU and the Government must not let us down on this.”

The unsustainable level of migration was laid bare in a report this month by Migration Watch UK which claimed Britain would need to build a city the size of Edinburgh every year unless it severs all ties with Europe.

If the UK remains subject to free movement rules net migration from the EU will continue at around 125,000 a year over the next decade, adding to those from other countries, it said.

A so-called “soft Brexit” would leave the door open to 1.25 million European immigrants over this time.

Taking into account non-EU migrants, the group claimed failure to control EU movement will result in the population rocketing by around 500,000 each year.

This is close to figures from the Office for National Statistics under a high migration scenario. These see the population rising nearly six million by 2027 and by more than 10 million over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics said the direct effect of net migration had grown the population by more than 251,000 people on average every year between 2004 and last year, up from 240,000 a year between 2004 and 2014.

Migration Watch UK also revealed that 66 per cent of British adults said it was essential, very or fairly important for Britain to make no further contributions to the EU budget after we leave the bloc.