Migration cut pledge despite record rate

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed long-term net migration in 2010 was 252,000 – the highest calendar year total on record.

The figures represent a big increase on the 2009 total of 198,000 – although ministers said they had now peaked and were starting to come down.

Downing Street said David Cameron still believed he could meet his target to get net migration down below the 100,000-a-year mark by the end of the Parliament.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman added: “Clearly it is going to take some time.”

However, Oxford University’s Migration Observatory warned ministers would have to slash immigration from outside the European Union by 70 per cent if they were to achieve the target.

The ONS said that while immigration had been broadly steady at 591,000 last year, there had been a sharp fall in emigration with 339,000 leaving the country – the lowest total since 2001.

While net migration peaked at 255,000 in the 12 months to September 2010, provisional figures for the year ending March 2011 showed it had fallen to 245,000.

Nevertheless, the figures remain at historically high levels. The previous record for a calendar year was 245,000 in 2004 – although mid-year data for the 12 months to June 2005 reached 260,000.

Immigration minister Damian Green said: “Latest quarterly figures show that there is a decrease in the number of student and work visas issued compared to a year earlier – an early sign our policies are starting to take effect.

“The latest net migration figures are also encouraging, showing a fall since the recent peak in September 2010 but we are clear there is much more to be done.”

Figures also showed a sharp drop in the number of illegal immigrants being removed from the country