Still getting facts wrong

Tony Blair got his facts wrong on two key points when he tried to defend his record on immigration:

The former Prime Minister claimed that, in 2004, the UK could only have restricted access to the UK labour market to members of the eight new EU countries in Eastern Europe for FOUR years.

But EU law at the time allowed member states to impose so-called ‘transitional controls’ for up to SEVEN years.

Most EU countries imposed the full restrictions, meaning that they did not open up free movement to workers from Eastern Europe until May 2011.

Mr Blair also claimed that the ‘majority’ of EU immigration came after 2008, suggesting his policy had little impact.

In fact, the explosion in numbers started immediately after Mr Blair’s decision not to impose controls. Net migration from the EU stood at just 15,000 in 2003, but rose almost six-fold the following year to 87,000. It continued to rise sharply until 2007, when it hit 127,000. It then dipped during the financial crisis before beginning to rise sharply again after 2012.