In its last figures released in May, the ONS said the number for last year was 606,000 – then deemed a record high….reports Asian Lite News
Net migration hit a record-breaking 745,000 in 2022, according to revised figures from the Office for National Statistics, as its latest numbers showed 672,000 people came to the UK in the 12 months to June 2023.
In its last figures released in May, the ONS said the number for last year was 606,000 – then deemed a record high.
But looking at the numbers again, the organisation now says the actual figure was almost 140,000 higher than first thought, making it an even more unparalleled statistic.
The latest numbers released on Wednesday showed net migration had risen when compared to the 12-month figure up to June 2022, which was 607,000, even though it was lower than the surprise annual stat for last year.
However, the ONS said while today’s number represented a drop from that unparalleled number, it was “too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend”, even though it did indicate a slowing of immigration coupled with increasing emigration.
Net migration is calculated by looking at the number of people arriving in the UK when both immigration (people coming to the UK) and emigration (people leaving the UK) are taken into account.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds a press conference in Downing Street, London, in response to the Supreme Court ruling that the Rwanda asylum policy is unlawful. The PM has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to stop small boat crossings after the Supreme Court ruled on his flagship policy of removing asylum seekers on expulsion flights to Kigali. Picture date: Wednesday November 15, 2023
From July 2019, a few months before the last general election, to June 2023, total estimated UK net migration stood at 1,611,000.
That total reflects net arrivals of 1,829,000 people from outside the EU, and net departures of 81,000 EU citizens and 137,000 British citizens.
Tory backbenchers have already begun to hit out at the numbers, with former home secretary Suella Braverman calling it “a slap in the face to the British public who have voted to control and reduce migration at every opportunity”.
She called on the government – which she was a member of until last week – to “act now”, with policies including introducing an annual cap on net migration and the number of health and social care visas given out, as well as raising the salary threshold for people to come to the country, closing the graduate visa route, and limiting the number of dependents.
Former minister Simon Clarke also called the figures “unsustainable both economically and socially”, while Tory Conservative MP, Jonathan Gullis said it was “completely unacceptable to the majority of the British people”.
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure from the right of his party to reduce net migration in light of the 2019 Tory manifesto, which promised to bring the “overall number down”.
Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the government remained “completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration, while also “focusing relentlessly” on tackling illegal migration.
He said ministers were “working across government on further measures to prevent exploitation and manipulation of our visa system, including clamping down on those that take advantage of the flexibility of the immigration system”.
But Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said today’s statistics showed “the scale of utter Tory failure on immigration, asylum, and the economy”.
In 2010, then prime minister David Cameron – now Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron – pledged to bring net migration down to the “tens of thousands”, though successive Tory governments have sought to move away from exact targets.
According to the ONS, most people arriving in the UK in the year to June 2023 were non-EU nationals – a total of 968,000 – followed by 129,000 EU citizens and 84,000 British people.
Govt committed to reduce legal migration, says Cleverly
British Home Secretary James Cleverly said on Thursday the government was “completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration,” after net migration rose to 6,72,000 in year to the end of June.
“We do need to reduce our overall numbers by eliminating the abuse and exploitation of our visa system by both companies and individuals,” Cleverly said in a statement.
“We are working across government on further measures to prevent exploitation and manipulation of our visa system, including clamping down on those that take advantage of the flexibility of the immigration system.”