Britons have lost faith in vow to cut migrants
ANXIETY about illegal immigration has been allowed to “grow unchecked” because of a lack of official information on the scale of the problem, a Commons committee has warned.
A report called for targets to be dropped because repeated failures to meet them were damaging the public’s faith in the immigration system.
The vow to cut net arrivals to under 100,000 a year was first made by David Cameron and kept by Theresa May despite latest figures showing 230,000 a year more people come to live in the UK than leave.
A report published by the Home Affairs Committee today describes the “long-standing paucity” of figures on the number of people living in the UK unlawfully as a “serious concern”.
The committee said the last Labour government’s underestimate of likely immigration from new eastern European EU countries and the Tories’ tens-of-thousands target which had never been met, had both undermined public trust.
The MPs concluded: “The continued discrepancy between the target and reality has damaged the public’s view of the immigration system because it undermines trust in the state’s ability to control migration in the way it intends or to deliver on its plans.
“Setting a long-term target or aspiration does not solve the challenge of achieving credibility, as people want to see practical steps that can be taken in the short-term.
“The target should be replaced with a new framework of targets and controls based on evidence.
“The process for the UK’s departure from the EU provides us with an opportunity to reset the tone and shape of the immigration debate. Immigration does not have to be a polarising issue.”
Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes told BBC One’s Sunday Politics: “We had a referendum in 2016 which sent us a very clear message that people want to see that target remain.
“They want to see us reducing immigration to sustainable levels and we’re doing exactly that. It was there in the manifesto so that is the direction of travel.”