Migration target faces criticism

THERESA MAY will come under fresh pressure to ditch immigration targets as new figures on the number of people coming to the UK are published today.
The latest net migration figures will raise questions about the Government's targetThe latest net migration figures will raise questions about the Government's target
The latest net migration figures will raise questions about the Government's target

The Prime Minister has stuck by her predecessor’s commitment to reduce net migration to below 100,000 but today’s figures are expected to be much higher.

It is anticipated controls on immigration will form a key part of Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union.

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However, European leaders are likely to demand free movement continues as a condition of Britain retaining its access to the single market.

The last migration figures showed 333,000 more people entered the country than left in the year to the end of December.

Phoebe Griffith, associate director migration, integration and communities at the IPPR thinktank, said: “They say the definition of madness is repeating the same thing and expecting a different result.

“Yet the Government continue to stand by a net migration target that neither the public nor many ministers have confidence in.

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“The public said they wanted to take back control on immigration, but Theresa May and Amber Rudd can’t get to grips with the issue with such a blunt measure.

“Having a net migration target is like having a target for the number of sunny days in a year; it’s not going to change the weather by itself.

“The Government need to set individual targets for high-skilled and low-skilled migrants, and design policy to balance public concerns with the needs of different sectors of our economy.”

IPPR argued setting more specific targets would allow the Government to control migration while protecting sectors of the economy like hospitality and food processing which would be vulnerable if the supply of EU labour was suddenly removed.

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It also warned the NHS would be in danger of collapse without EU workers and called for them to be offered automatic citizenship as part of efforts to head off a “brain drain”.

There are currently around 55,000 EU nationals working in the English NHS, and one in 10 of the UK’s registered doctors is an EU national.

A poll of 2,000 people for the British Future thinktank found 37 per cent think the UK is likely to meet the net migrationtarget in the next five years, compared to 44 per cent who consider the chances of reaching the aim unlikely.

While 12 per cent of people would like to see a reduction in the numbers of highly skilled workers migrating to Britain, while nearly four times as many would like to see more arriving.

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:People are “less positive” about low-skilled workers moving to the UK, with nearly four in 10 happy for numbers to stay the same or increase but six in 10 preferring a reduction.

Director Sunder Katwala said: “The Brexit shake-up could be an opportunity to get immigration policy right - to restore trust in a system that works, and public consent for the immigration that we have.”

The status of more than three million EU migrants already in Britain has come under scrutiny in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

The Government has said it “fully expects” that the legal status of EU migrants living in this country will be “properly protected” when the UK leaves.

But critics have called on the Government to move more quickly to remove the uncertainty surrounding the status of EU citizens already living and working in the UK.