We will be told the real number of EU migrants
THE EU referendum battle took an astonishing new twist last night after officials caved in to demands to come clean about the true scale of mass immigration.
The U-turn – a major victory for the Daily Mail – sets the stage for the potentially explosive figures to be published just one month before the June 23 vote.
The information could reveal up to 1.3million extra EU citizens are living here – electrifying the referendum debate and giving a major boost to the Out camp.
MPs said the Government was only releasing the information under huge pressure. One said it was ‘Late, but a good deal better than never’.
Senior Tory backbencher David Davis said: ‘These figures will highlight the extent that the Government is not in control of our borders and the importance of Brexit.’ Lord Green, the chairman of Migration-Watch, said: ‘This is progress. The Government have at last recognised that they cannot continue to obfuscate on a matter of such importance to the public and possibly to the referendum.’
The decision follows a row over so-called ‘active’ National Insurance numbers. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show some 919,000 EU migrants have arrived in Britain since June 2010. But, in the same period of time, officials have issued 2.2million NI numbers to EU migrants.
MPs say the gap suggests huge numbers of incomers may have been missed by the ONS, leaving officials in the dark about the true scale of the pressure being placed on hospitals and schools.
In a sustained campaign, backed by the Mail, Brexit campaigners and economists have called for the release of the ‘active’ NI numbers, which means those which are currently being used to claim benefits or pay taxes.
This data will give a snapshot of who is actually here – and ensure the public are not voting in the referendum on the basis of inaccurate information on immigration.
But ministers and officials have been blocking their release. HMRC chiefs refused to answer Parliamentary questions, Freedom of Information requests or letters from MPs on the grounds it would be ‘too costly’ – sparking allegations of an official ‘cover-up’. However, in the wake of huge pressure from MPs in favour of quitting the EU, Downing Street has now ordered their release.
The information is being sent to the ONS by HMRC chief Lin Homer. She has separately said it will be sent to the Treasury Select Committee by the end of this month.
Government sources said this was being done with a view to the ONS publishing a paper at the end of May which will attempt to explain the true scale of immigration in recent years. This will be published alongside the latest net migration statistics on May 26.
Last week, the statistics watchdog said the public must be informed about the true extent of immigration ahead of June 23. The UK Statistics Authority said it is concerned that current data on how many people are arriving ‘falls short of providing a full picture’.
Officially, 257,000 EU nationals arrived last year, but 630,000 from the EU were given NI numbers. The figures include 209,000 numbers given to Romanians and Bulgarians. Officially, only 55,000 Romanians and Bulgarians settled here last year.
Mr Davis said the difference between the ONS figures and the number of NI numbers being doled out had significant implications for the job prospects of British citizens, housing and public services.