CAM’S CRISIS
Flagship immigration policy left in tatters as new arrival numbers reach an all-time high
DAVID Cameron was hit by record high figures for immigration yesterday as he announced radical measures to deter unlawful working.
The statistics showed net long-term migration to the UK – the number of people entering the country minus the number leaving – was estimated to be 318,000 last year.
The figures – from the Office for National Statistics – left the Tories’ tough immigration policies in tatters once again.
The figure, equivalent to the population of a city the size of Cardiff swelling Britain’s population in one year, is the biggest recorded under a Tory government.
The figures also revealed that the rise includes people from non-EU countries, who are supposedly subject to controls, as well as EU citizens who have a right to live in Britain.
The huge rise was an embarrassing blow for the Prime Minister, who gave a “no ifs, no buts” election pledge in 2010 to bring net migration down to the “tens of thousands”.
Home Secretary Theresa May admitted yesterday: “We failed to meet that target.”
She told the BBC: “We still want to bring migration down to the tens of thousands” – the figure stated in the Tory manifesto.
In a speech, Cameron said working illegally in the UK would become a criminal offence, with police able to seize the wages of workers who have entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas.
He will chair the new taskforce to oversee the Government’s “relentless drive” to reduce net migration.