Post-Brexit immigration figures ‘could balloon under new system’

NET MIGRATION to the UK could increase by more than 100,000 under the Government’s postBrexit plans, a new report has claimed.

The measure – the difference between the numbers arriving and departing – could reach 380,000 a year if the proposed new system is introduced, according to campaign group Migration Watch UK.

This would be higher than the record figure of 336,000, which has been registered three times, most recently in the 12 months to June 2016. The latest statistics put net long-term international migration at an estimated 273,000 in the year to June 2018.

Migration Watch UK said its calculations would mean a rise of more than 50 per cent compared with the current 10year average of 250,000 a year. Following repeated delays, ministers finally presented details of the biggest shake-up of the immigration regime for more than 40 years shortly before Christmas.

Under the proposals, a new route will be created for migrants at any skill level to come to the UK temporarily, the annual cap on skilled work visas will be scrapped, and employers wanting to sponsor overseas employees will no longer be required to carry out a “resident labour market test”.

The report from Migration Watch UK, which campaigns for tighter immigration controls, said: “Far from reducing immigration to sustainable levels as the Home Secretary has claimed, these white paper proposals are likely to see net migration rise by over 50 per cent.”