Eastern Europeans shunning UK after Brexit vote

NET migration from Eastern Europe has all but dried up to just 5,000 after the Brexit referendum, according to new figures.

Immigration from Poland, Hungary and the other six EU states which joined the bloc in 2004 fell dramatically by 25,000 to 48,000 last year and those already in the UK who chose to leave rose steeply by 16,000 to 43,000, leaving a net increase of 5,000 people from that region, in contrast to previous years.

Overall net migration to the UK in 2016 was estimated to be 248,000, the lowest level for almost three years, and a drop of 25 per cent on 2015 according to the Office for National Statistics.

However, the total is still far more than the target set by Theresa May to bring net migration down to below 100,000 a year.

Net migration to the UK is calculated by working out the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country. The figure includes British nationals emigrating and those moving back home from abroad.

This was a “statistically significant” fall of 84,000 compared with the figure recorded in 2015, the ONS said.

Experts said the change in long-term international net migration was driven by a 40,000 rise in emigration.

This was made up mainly of EU citizens, with the number departing at an estimated 117,000 – a rise of 31,000 on the previous 12 months. Immigration was at 588,000 last year, a fall of 43,000 year-on-year, although the ONS said this was not statistically significant.

In its election manifesto, Labour said it was offering “fair rules and reasonable management of migration” – but dismissed targets as “bogus”.

Theresa May has promised to cut net migration to the “tens of thousands” but George Osborne, the former chancellor, has claimed other Cabinet members do not feel the target is achievable. Business leaders have also warned that cutting the number of skilled migrants would pose problems for firms and public services such as the NHS.

The new figures give the fullest picture yet of immigration after the EU referendum vote last year.

They also showed the number of people moving to be with a partner or relation has increased over the last year to 85,000 but that overall, those travelling to the UK to find work has fallen.

In 2015, 130,000 people came to the country without a job compared with 95,000 last year.

Britain’s settlement after departure from the EU is expected to include restrictions on free movement rules, although the precise arrangements are yet to be thrashed out.

Alp Mehmet, vice-chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “This reduction in net migration is welcome but it is still running at a quarter of a million a year – a level that would have once been dismissed as incredible.”