8 million foreigners living in Britain

Official figures expected to record influx as Europe struggles with migration crisis

BRITAIN’S foreign-born population is expected to top eight million for the first time in official figures to be published this week, according to academics from Oxford University.

The Migration Observatory, a group of independent experts at the institution, predicted the landmark would be reached in data to be published by the Office for National Statistics tomorrow. It follows years of increases.

The latest ONS figures are also expected to show a rise in net migration despite the Government’s pledge to cut the figure to “tens of thousands” a year. Even a small rise on the last numbers would set a new record.

The figures throw into sharp relief the impact immigration has had on Britain in the last decade, as a migration crisis continues across the European Union.

Yesterday, officials in Hungary said record numbers of people, mainly Syrians, were streaming in from neighbouring Serbia. More than 2,000 people, the highest ever daily total, entered on just one day earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Germany announced that it had relaxed asylum rules for Syrian refugees. But as thousands continue to arrive in southern Europe, up to 5,000 migrants are massing outside the port of Calais where they attempt nightly incursions into the Channel Tunnel in a bid to reach British soil.

The crisis has prompted calls for a rethink of the EU’s free movement rules – a change long demanded by David Cameron, the Prime Minister.

Critics said the huge rise in Britain’s foreign-born residents, which a decade ago stood at just five million, was “the direct consequence of Labour’s mass immigration” policies.

The Migration Observatory’s report said: “The number of UK residents in 2014 who were born abroad … has increased steadily over time, and the current trend suggests that it is likely to exceed eight million for the first time in 2014.”

However, the rate of increase in the foreign-born population has slowed. It took three years to move from the six-million to the seven-million mark under Labour in 2009. In comparison, growth from seven million to eight million – assuming it is reached in tomorrow’s data – will have taken five years.

Madeleine Sumption, the director of the Migration Observatory, said: “The pace of change appears to have been slightly slower in the last few years, almost certainly because of the economic crisis. The foreign-born population has gone up over time despite the fact that there has been a tighter government immigration policy, such as the income threshold for migrants and restrictions on family visas. Most likely it would have been faster had those policies not been in place.”

Ms Sumption said that migrants born in the European Union were making up a growing proportion of the total number of foreigners living in Britain. In 2004, they made up 28 per of Brit- ain’s foreign-born residents – less than 1.5 million. But by 2013 it was 35 per cent, or 2.7 million, and it could increase still further in the latest data.

Last week a poll showed immigration is the biggest worry among voters.

Alp Mehmet, the vice-chairman of Migration-Watch UK, which campaigns for tougher immigration rules, said: “This very rapid increase in our population is the direct consequence of Labour’s mass immigration which the coalition was unable to bring under control.

“The Government must get a grip of the student route which is the major avenue for non-EU migration. They must also renegotiate access to Britain by EU migrants, particularly those coming for low-wage employment.”