Politics latest news: Nigel Farage says record net migration is 'total breach of trust'

Thank you for joining me for today's politics live blog. 

I will be back tomorrow morning. 

Labour claimed the Government had "lost the ability to get its own legislation through Parliament" after ministers announced the decision to scrap their flagship animal welfare bill (see the post below at 15.05). 

Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: "Today’s announcement that the Government has pulled the plug on the Kept Animals Bill is further proof that you can’t trust the Tories to deliver on animal welfare.

"The Government’s decision to scrap the Kept Animals Bill demonstrates that it has lost the ability to get its own legislation through Parliament.

"Labour is the party of animal welfare and we have long called for the Kept Animals Bill to be brought back to the House at the earliest opportunity. Only a Labour Government can be trusted to deliver on animal welfare."

The RSPCA has criticised the Government's decision to scrap its flagship animal welfare bill (see the post below at 15.05), claiming it will lead to "more uncertainty and lost time". 

Emma Slawinski, director of policy at the RSPCA, said: "We have been waiting for almost two years for the Kept Animals Bill to improve the lives of billions of animals and now it’s effectively been scrapped. While politicians dither, animals suffer.

"We are frustrated and disappointed that, despite overwhelming public support, the Government has delayed and delayed and has now broken up the bill, leading to yet more uncertainty and lost time.

"The Secretary of State has said that she wants to proceed separately with elements of the bill like ending live exports of animals for fattening and slaughter and clamping down on puppy smuggling but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating."

She said the RSPCA wants to see "urgent legislative progress on everything that was in the bill" and "it is imperative that ministers honour all their manifesto commitments for animals" before the next general election. 

The Government has announced it has scrapped its flagship animal welfare bill. 

Environment minister Mark Spencer confirmed the move in the House of Commons but insisted the Government would still meet its manifesto commitments on the issue.

Speaking about the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, he said: "Unfortunately this multi-issue nature means that there has been considerable scope creep. The Bill risked being extended far beyond the original commitments in the manifesto and the action plan. And in particular, Labour is clearly determined to play political games by widening the scope of this Bill."

He said "enormous progress" on animal welfare had already been made with "single-issue" legislation, adding: "Therefore we will be taking forward measures in the Kept Animals Bill individually during the remainder of this Parliament.

"We remain fully committed to delivering our manifesto commitments. And this approach is now the surest and quickest way of doing so, rather than letting it be mired in political game-playing."

Jeremy Hunt said he was "willing to do what it takes" if household energy bills increase again this autumn.

Asked on Sky News if he could guarantee he would step in if energy bills started to rise again, the Chancellor said: "All I can say is that I think I’ve demonstrated in the autumn statement, and the spring budget where I extended the energy price guarantee for another three months, funded in part by a windfall tax on the oil companies, that we are willing to do what it takes."

It comes after Ofgem announced this morning that it is lowering its energy price cap from the current £3,280 per year to £2,074 for the average household in England, Wales and Scotland, effective from July 1 (see the post below at 08.16). 

Boris Johnson went into every room in No10 to apologise to staff over partygate, his former communications chief has said.

Guto Harri recalled how Mr Johnson made a point of directly expressing his remorse after Sue Gray’s report into lockdown gatherings was published in May 2022.

You can read the full story here.

Tory MPs told the Government that current levels of net migration are "clearly unsustainable" and voters will expect the numbers to fall. 

This is a selection of the comments made by Conservative backbenchers during the urgent question in the House of Commons on the numbers earlier today: 

• Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) said: "Today’s figures are too high and my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme will expect to see them fall."
• Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) said: "Unsustainable levels of migration continue to have a significant impact on the likes of housing in the South East. Does [immigration minister Robert Jenrick] agree that we must do all we can to reach sustainable levels of migration?"
• Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) said: "Some people in the Treasury seem to think a good way to grow the economy is to fill the country up with more and more people, but this is bad for productivity and bad for British workers who are being undercut by mass migration from all over the world."
• Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) said: "The anger and frustration of my constituents has been focused on illegal migration up until now, but that anger and frustration will grow when they consider these legal migration figures. We’re creating, roughly speaking, eight new parliamentary constituencies with this number and if that continues it’s clearly unsustainable."

The Tories are set to break their manifesto pledge to build 40 hospitals this decade after being forced to prioritise crumbling buildings.

The Health Secretary is expected to announce on Thursday that eight hospitals will not be built until after 2030.

Ministers are set to prioritise rebuilding five existing sites after realising they were in such disrepair that they could pose a risk to patients.

However, officials will insist that they remain on track to deliver their manifesto commitment to build 40 new hospitals, saying that they will count the five hospitals being rebuilt, and three extra mental health facilities, in their count.

You can read the full story here.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, claimed the Treasury wants the UK to have a high level of net migration because it will grow the economy. 

Responding to net migration hitting 606,000 in 2022, Mr Rees-Mogg told GB News: "I don’t know the Chancellor’s view but I do know the Treasury view. 

"The Treasury view is that immigration grows the economy and therefore you want to have a high level of migration and that the OBR figures are based on a quarter of a million migration and that they are dependent on the dreadful, wrong, false OBR forecasts on how they make economic policy decisions including tax and spend. 

"So the Treasury is in the grip of error in this regard in my view because migration may lead to GDP growth but not to GDP per capita growth because quite a number of people coming in are coming in well below the average earnings for this country."

Downing Street said measures designed to reduce the asylum backlog will "take time to bed in" as it responded to the number hitting a new record high (see the post below at 11.53). 

Asked whether Rishi Sunak wa concerned that his proposals to deal with the backlog appeared to be going backwards, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman told reporters: "So obviously some of these approaches do take time to bed in.

"We are making some progress on specific areas. We’ve doubled the number of caseworkers. The Home Office stats show asylum decisions are up – 35 per cent increase in decisions year-on-year. We’re seeing a 20 per cent decrease in the asylum grant rate for Albanians, for example. And we’re seeing some success with our partnership with Albania.

"But obviously there are more to do and we are confident that things like doubling the number of caseworkers will start to have an impact."

Downing Street has declined to apologise for Rishi Sunak’s failure to deliver on the 2019 Tory manifesto pledge to reduce overall migration numbers. 

Asked if the PM would apologise, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: "We are working to bring those numbers down. We have set out a significant package to do that just this week as well as all the work that goes alongside stopping the boats. 

"It is also important to understand what sits beneath some of those numbers, 114,000 Ukrainians coming over for example, 52,000 British nationals from Hong Kong…"

The spokesman said that in broad terms the migration numbers are "too high, they need to come down and that will be the Government’s focus". 

The 2019 Conservative Party manifesto stated: "There will be fewer lower-skilled migrants and overall numbers will come down."

The backlog of asylum cases in the UK has hit a new record high, Home Office figures published this morning have shown.

A total of 172,758 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of March 2023, up 57 per cent from 109,735 at the end of March 2022 and the highest figure since current records began in 2010.

The number of people waiting more than six months for an initial decision stood at 128,812 at the end of March, up 76 per cent year on year from 73,207 and another record high.

Asylum applications hit a 20 year high in the year to March 2023, official data published by the Home Office this morning has revealed. 

There were 75,492 asylum applications in the UK in the year to March, relating to 91,047 people. 

That is the highest total for any 12-month period since the year to March 2003, when it stood at 80,736 applications relating to 99,338 people.

Rishi Sunak has insisted he did not let Home Secretary Suella Braverman "off the hook" after clearing her of breaching the ministerial code without launching an investigation.

The Prime Minister refused calls to launch an official investigation after she asked officials if she could attend a private speed awareness course for driving too fast.

Opposition critics accused Mr Sunak of being "too weak" to act over Mrs Braverman, who is an influential figure on the right of the Tory party.

But, in an interview with ITV’s This Morning, he said: "I haven’t let her off the hook."

Rishi Sunak used his interview with This Morning on ITV to set out his concerns about young people vaping as he said the Government is examining how it can "strengthen the rules" on the way the products are marketed. 

The Prime Minister said: "You were talking about vapes before we came on. I have two young girls, I also worry about that. That’s why we’ve actually recently funded a new hit squad that’s going to go in and tackle all these shops that shouldn’t be selling vapes to children which is already illegal. 

"We’re looking at how can we strengthen the rules on how they’re marketed and promoted, what do they look like, because  it looks like they are targeted by kids, which is ridiculous. 

"I don’t want my kids to be seduced by any of these things. That’s what people want us to be focused on, that’s what’s going to make a difference."

Rishi Sunak has spoken about his love of Jilly Cooper novels, saying you "need to have escapism in your life".

He told ITV’s This Morning programme: "You need to have escapism in your life… it’s good to be able to get away from your day to day, whether it’s the TV you watch or the books you read."

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, criticised Suella Braverman for failing to attend Labour's urgent question on today's new migration numbers.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, represented the Government in the House of Commons instead of the Home Secretary. 

Ms Cooper asked: "Where is the Home Secretary who is in charge of these policies? She has gone to ground, there are reports she is not even going to do media, she has not come to this House..."

The Labour frontbencher added: "What is the point of her?"

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, told the House of Commons that net migration to the UK was "far too high" as he responded to a Labour urgent question on the subject. 

Mr Jenrick said today's record high figures were in "large part due to temporary and exceptional factors" including help for Ukrainians and Hong Kongers. 

He said: "The Government remains committed to reducing overall net migration to sustainable levels. That is a solemn promise we made to the British public in our manifesto and we are unwavering in our determination to deliver it."

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, claimed the Tories have "no plan and no grip on immigration" as she responded to today's net migration numbers. 

The Labour frontbencher said: "These extraordinary figures, including doubling the number of work visas since the pandemic, show the Conservatives have no plan and no grip on immigration. Ministers have completely failed to tackle skills shortages, especially in health and social care, or to get people back into work after Covid.

"Net migration should come down and we expect it to do so. Support we have rightly given to Ukrainians and Hong Kongers has unusually affected the figures this year. But that can’t disguise the fact that the Conservatives’ chaotic approach means that work visas are up 119 per cent, net migration is more than twice the level ministers were aiming for, and the asylum backlog is at a record high despite Rishi Sunak promising to clear it this year."

Rishi Sunak would not be drawn on what level he wants to bring net migration down to as he repeated that he wants to see the numbers fall. 

Asked what his "dream number" would be for net migration, the Prime Minister told ITV's This Morning programme: "Well, I want the numbers to come down. These things are not easy to do, it depends on the economy…"

He added: "The numbers that I have inherited are closer to 500,000 plus and you have seen the numbers today as you have said. 

"But look, my commitment is to bring numbers down and the measures that we have put in place this week are significant, they will bring the numbers down over time, that is what I want to do. 

"We are looking at other things as well and we will keep looking at it and it goes alongside our other plan to stop the boats because that is really important."

Rishi Sunak was asked if he could give an assurance to voters that overall net migration will come down on his watch. 

The Prime Minister replied during an interview on ITV's This Morning programme: "Yeah, of course, I want to bring the numbers down. 

"The measures we have announced this week are more impactful than anything that anyone has ever announced before when it comes to tackling migration."

Rishi Sunak has denied net migration is out of control as he repeated that he believed numbers are "just too high". 

Asked if the numbers were out of control after net migration hit a new record high of 606,000, the Prime Minister told ITV's This Morning: "Well, no, I think the numbers are just too high. There has been various factors, you will read the report, whether it was welcoming people here from Hong Kong or Ukraine. 

"That has had an impact. As we saw after the pandemic more people came back to study here who hadn’t been here during the pandemic years. 

"But fundamentally the numbers are high, I want to bring them down."

Rishi Sunak said the net migration numbers are "too high" as he responded to the data published by the Office for National Statistics this morning (see the post below at 09.34). 

Speaking to This Morning on ITV, the Prime Minister said: "The numbers are too high, it is as simple as that, and I want to bring them down.

"That is why this week we announced some new measures and I think pretty much the biggest thing that anyone has ever announced to bring the levels of migration down and it is a new policy which limits the amount of family members that people who are studying here can bring with them when they come and study here.

"What we have seen over the last few years is that number of dependants has just absolutely spiralled, almost 150,000 dependants of people who are studying here coming, we are saying from now on that is not going to be allowed."

Mr Sunak said the move on dependants will make a "big difference" to the overall numbers.

Nigel Farage, the former leader of the Brexit Party, said today's new record high for net migration represented a "total breach of trust" between voters and ministers. 

Mr Farage tweeted: "These figures are a total breach of trust between voters and this government. The population explosion continues, our quality of life is declining and all the government will do is to give us more lies."

Jay Lindop, director of the Centre for International Migration at the Office for National Statistics, said today's migration numbers had been fuelled by a "series of unprecedented world events". 

He said: "A series of unprecedented world events throughout 2022 and the lifting of restrictions following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to record levels of international immigration to the UK.

"The main drivers of the increase were people coming to the UK from non-EU countries for work, study and for humanitarian purposes, including those arriving from Ukraine and Hong Kong. For the first time since using our new methods to measure migration, we have also included asylum seekers in our estimates, with around 1 in 12 non-EU migrants coming via this route.

"There are some signs that the underlying drivers behind these high levels of migration are changing. As lockdown restrictions were lifted in 2021, we saw a sharp increase in students arriving. Recent data suggests that those arriving in 2021 are now leaving the country, with the overall share of non-EU immigration for students falling in 2022. In contrast, those arriving on humanitarian routes increased over the 12 months. Evidence also suggests immigration has slowed in recent months, potentially demonstrating the temporary nature of these events."

The total figure for long-term immigration to the UK in 2022 was estimated to be 1.2 million and the figure for emigration was 557,000. 

That gives the total net migration figure of 606,000. 

The Office for National Statistics said that most people arriving to the UK in 2022 were non-EU nationals (925,000), followed by EU (151,000) and British (88,000).

Net migration to the UK hit a new record high of 606,000 in 2022, new data published by the Office for National Statistics revealed this morning.

The number easily surpasses the previous record high of 504,000 recorded in the year to June 2022. 

The new figure will pile the pressure on Rishi Sunak and fuel Labour claims that the Government has lost control of the nation’s borders.

Labour has been granted an urgent question in the House of Commons on today's migration figures. 

The Office for National Statistics will publish the data at 9.30am and the urgent question should get underway just after 10.30am. 

Figures that are expected to show net migration reached record levels last year will demonstrate the Government has "lost control" of the nation's borders, Labour’s shadow immigration minister has claimed.

Ahead of the release of Office for National Statistics data, expected to show net migration hit between 700,000 and one million, Stephen Kinnock told LBC Radio: "It will say that they’ve lost control of the issue. They have failed to have a strategy in place for our local labour market, and as a result of that, employers are being forced to reach for overseas immigration.

"We need a much more balanced approach, ensuring that we have the immigration we need of course, but that there’s much more opportunity for skills, productivity training, workforce planning to get our economy firing on all cylinders again."

The Office for National Statistics will publish eagerly-awaited net migration data for 2022 at 9.30am this morning in a moment which is likely to dominate the political debate in the days to comes. 

The figures are expected to show net migration - the number of people entering the UK minus those leaving – hit a record high of between 700,000 and one million last year. 

That would easily surpass the 504,000 recorded in the year to June 2022 and nearly treble the pre-Brexit rate.

Rishi Sunak warned earlier this week in a piece for The Telegraph that "uncontrolled" legal migration risks leading to unmanageable pressures on housing, schools and hospitals.

The Prime Minister is expected to appear on ITV's This Morning programme after 10am when he will respond to today's figures.

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps has welcomed the "positive" drop in the energy price cap to £2,074 from July (see the post below at 08.16).

In a statement, the Cabinet minister said: "It’s positive households across the country will see their energy bills fall by around £430 on average from July, marking a major milestone in our determined efforts to halve inflation.

"We’ve spent billions to protect families when prices rose over the winter covering nearly half a typical household’s energy bill, and we’re now seeing costs fall even further with wholesale energy prices down by over two thirds since their peak as we’ve neutralised Putin’s blackmail.

"I’m relentlessly focused on reducing our reliance on foreign fossil fuels and powering-up Britain from Britain to deliver cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy."

Ofgem has announced it is lowering its energy price cap from the current £3,280 per year to £2,074 for the average household in England, Wales and Scotland, effective from July 1. 

It means the average household will see their annual bill drop by approximately £426.

The regulator said the £1,206 reduction to the cap reflected recent falls in wholesale energy prices.

The lower cap will replace the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), which currently limits the typical household energy bill to around £2,500.

Sir Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary, said the Government should avoid an "ugly turf war" with the official Covid-19 Inquiry after a row erupted over requests for evidence. 

The inquiry is in a legal stand-off with the Cabinet Office over demands to hand over Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from the pandemic. 

Sir Robert said he believed it would be "wise for everybody involved in the inquiry to cooperate" with requests made by the inquiry chair Baroness Hallett. 

The senior Tory MP told Talk TV that "there might be arguments as to the full extent of the necessary disclosure" but added: "What we don’t want to see and what we should avoid is some sort of ugly turf war here and a reluctance, a perceived reluctance, to hand over information that could and may well help inform the judge come to proper conclusions that will form the basis of the inquiry’s findings."

Just six in 10 Blue Wall voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 said they would vote for the Tories again if a general election were held tomorrow, according to a new poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

The survey, conducted on May 22, found that 60 per cent of Tory voters would vote Tory again, with the remaining 40 per cent looking at other parties. 

Some 13 per cent of 2019 Tory voters in the Blue Wall said they would vote for Labour, eight per cent would vote for Reform UK and two per cent would back the Lib Dems. 

Rishi Sunak has been handed a personal Blue Wall boost as he extended his poll lead over Sir Keir Starmer on the question of who would make the better prime minister. 

A Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey found that some 42 per cent of Blue Wall voters picked Mr Sunak, up by three points, while 32 per cent picked Sir Keir, down by three points. 

It is Mr Sunak’s largest lead over Sir Keir on the question since November last year. 

The Conservatives are now ahead of Labour in the Blue Wall for the first time since October last year when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.

A new Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted on May 22 puts the Tories on 34 per cent and Labour narrowly behind on 33 per cent in the key collection of seats. 

The Tories were up two points and Labour was down three points when compared to a previous poll conducted on May 7. 

The Blue Wall refers to approximately 42 affluent southern constituencies in England where the Tories have traditionally found electoral success but where support has been slipping in recent years. 

The Tories won all 42 of the seats at the 2019 general election, securing about 50 per cent of the vote, while the Lib Dems came second with 27 per cent and Labour was third on 21 per cent.

The poll numbers suggest that the Tories are now on an upward trajectory in the seats which will be key to Mr Sunak’s hopes of staying in power at the next general election.