THE Tories used Brexit to turn the UK into a “one nation experiment in open borders”, the Prime Minister has warned.
Sir Keir Starmer used an emergency press conference to put the blame squarely on the Conservative Party for the new record-high net migration figures.
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By NOA HOFFMAN, Political Correspondent
MIGRANT numbers are out of control and Labour MUST do more to stop the crisis spiralling, expert Fraser Nelson warned today.
Fresh stats showed net immigration hit a monster 906,000 last year as Britain’s population continued to soar.
On Never Mind The Ballots Mr Nelson warned arrival numbers are “completely unsustainable”.
And he blasted the Home Office for failing to keep track of the full extent of foreigners entering the country.
The border figures for 2022-23 were today drastically revised up from the initial estimate of 740,000 released in May.
Mr Nelson said: “Everyone got this migration forecast completely and utterly wrong.
“It suggests that no matter what you think the number is going to be – the real number is going to be a lot higher.”
The top journalist argued Labour “will have to do more” to get a grip of the border.
He said: “Things which blindsided the Tories, for example, was not so much the people coming in individually but their dependents.
“That includes their spouses, the families they were bringing in, even by students – it completely threw them.
“So what you need to adjust there is, for example, the earnings threshold for somebody’s spouse.
“The government hasn’t yet accepted recommendations to increase this to the mid 30,000s.
“But I think they’re probably going to have to.”
They showed the number of people entering the UK minus those leaving reached 906,000 in the year ending June 2023.
The PM promised a new white paper “imminently” to slash numbers, overhaul the Points-Based System, and stop sectors relying on cheap overseas workers.
He said: “Failure on this scale isn’t just bad luck, it isn’t a global trend or taking your eye off the ball.
“No, this is a different order of failure. This happened by design, not accident. Policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration.
“Brexit was used for that purpose, to turn Britain into a one nation experiment in open borders.”
Sir Keir went on: “We’re taking a different approach.
“We will publish a white paper imminently which sets out a plan to reduce immigration.
“The Migration Advisory Committee is already conducting a review, and where we find clear evidence of sectors that are over reliant on immigration, we will reform the Points-Based System and make sure that applications for the relevant visa routes, whether it’s the skilled worker route or the shortage occupation list, will now come with new expectations on training people here in our country.”
The PM also insisted his Government will “crack down on any abuse of the visa routes”, adding: “For far too long, we’ve been casual about malpractice in our labour market, which sends a clear signal overseas that we are a soft touch.
“Well, no more: our rules will be enforced. Any employers who refuse to play ball, they will be banned from hiring overseas labour.”
Home Secretary signs deal with Iraq to tackle people smuggling
By MARTINA BET, Political Correspondent
BRITAIN will give Iraq nearly £1 million under a deal to take down smuggling gangs behind the surge in illegal migration.
The agreement will see £300,000 pumped into training Iraqi police to smash trafficking networks.
An additional £200,000 will fund a new border security taskforce in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), designed to tackle irregular migration and disrupt smuggling operations.
And another £300,000 will be used to help Iraq combat serious organised crime, including human trafficking and illicit drug flows.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper sealed the deal during a visit to Baghdad and Erbil.
She said: “These landmark commitments between the UK Government and Iraq and the KRI send a clear signal to the criminal smuggling gangs that we are determined to work across the globe to go after them.
“There are smuggler gangs profiting from dangerous small boat crossings whose operations stretch back through northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond. Organised criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too.
“The increasingly global nature of organised immigration crime means that even countries that are thousands of miles apart must work more closely together than ever to stop these gangs getting away with it, to strengthen our border security and to stop so many lives being put at risk.”
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