Immigration levels are still double Theresa May’s target of under 100,000
Net migration from the EU fell to 74,000, the lowest since 2013
IMMIGRATION levels are still double Theresa May’s long-standing target, in another blow to the departing Prime Minister.
Fresh figures revealed just minutes before her resignation statement showed that new arrivals added another quarter of a million to the UK population in 2018.
It was a slight fall from the previous year’s figure but still well above the target of under 100,000 which Mrs May has been trying to achieve since 2010 both as Home Secretary and Prime Minister.
Sunder Katwala, director of think-tank British Future, said: “These will be Theresa May’s final immigration statistics as a Prime Minister and Home Secretary who placed the net migration target at the centre of the Government’s immigration policy.
“But the net migration target was a promise to voters that could never be kept.”
Detailed figures from the Office for National Statistics – published a day late so as not to clash with the European Parliament elections – showed that 602,000 people moved to the UK last year while 343,000 left, giving a net migration total of 258,000.
In 2017 the figure had been 285,000. The record high of 336,000 was in 2015.
Net migration from the EU fell to 74,000, the lowest level since 2013 as arrivals continued to fall in the wake of the referendum.
MIGRANT TOLL
More Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians left than arrived.
But arrivals from the rest of the world continued to rise, with a particular increase in numbers from the Middle East and Central Asia.
And 17,304 people were granted asylum – a 22 per cent rise and the highest number since 2003.
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Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said: “These figures show that the UK is continuing to attract skilled workers like doctors and nurses, who play a vital role in supporting our communities and boosting our economy.
“Net migration continues to be stable and as we leave the EU our new immigration system will give us greater control over who comes here, while ensuring employers have the access to the skills they need.”
But Alp Mehmet of pressure group Migration Watch UK warned: “The clear message in the these figures for the next Prime Minister is that they must make it a priority to deliver on the government’s pledge to reduce immigration levels by a lot, in line with the public’s wishes.”
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