Rudd admits migrant target is ‘challenging’
AMBER Rudd yesterday sidestepped supporting Theresa May’s goal to reduce net migration to 100,000 a year.
The Home Secretary described the target – a key plank of the Tory election manifesto – as ‘challenging’ as she confirmed that plans for a post-Brexit immigration system have been delayed.
Pressed on whether she was ‘committed’ to the figure by 2022, Miss Rudd insisted she was aiming for ‘sustainable’ levels of migration.
The Prime Minister has vowed to cut net migration – the number of migrants arriving in the UK minus those leaving – to the ‘tens of thousands’.
Failure to control the country’s porous borders was one of the spurs for millions of people to vote for Brexit.
Miss Rudd’s evasive answers came in a bruising clash as she gave evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
Chairman Yvette Cooper questioned whether the Home Secretary was being ‘ honest and open’ with the public about immigration.
After Mrs Cooper demanded to know whether the target still applied, Miss Rudd said she was ‘ still focused on making sure that we continue to reduce net migration to sustainable levels’.
Mrs Cooper shot back: ‘Is that “yes” or “no” to the target?’ Miss Rudd replied: ‘I think I have given my answer.’
She added: ‘It is a concern to many people, particularly the people who voted to leave the EU, that immigration is too high, so I will be making sure that we continue to reduce it.
‘There are many ways of reducing immigration... and there are going to be more ways of doing it once we leave the European Union.’
The Cabinet minister repeatedly stressed that she was also concerned to help businesses in being able to employ the staff they need and universities to recruit overseas students. And she declined to say what immigration arrangements the Government was seeking in the agreement on Britain’s future relationship with the EU, saying it was a matter for Mrs May and Brexit Secretary David Davis.
Miss Rudd confirmed that the schedule for legislation on a new immigration system had been put back as a transition deal now looked highly likely.
‘The timing for the Immigration Bill has been delayed because the key element of protecting EU citizens in their rights in the UK has now been achieved through the withdrawal agreement which is going to come before Parliament later this year,’ she said.
‘So the urgency we had before with the white paper, with the Immigration Bill, has to a certain extent been removed.’
Miss Rudd said an additional 1,000 border staff were being recruited to beef up checks at ports and airports after Brexit. The announcement brings to 1,300 the number of additional border officers who will be in place by the end of the UK’s transition out of the European Union in 2021.
Miss Rudd also urged internet companies such as Facebook to do more to remove illegal and offensive content online.
‘In terms of illegal material, I still think there is much, much more they can do,’ she said.
‘In some instances, they do make a decision themselves to remove the material which they find offensive. I do think there is more that can be done.’
‘Concern to many people’