Tories hit the panic button after net migration is upgraded to ANOTHER new record of 745,000 a year – equivalent to the size of Cambridge – driven by arrivals from outside the EU looking for work

Rishi Sunak is under huge pressure to act on legal migration into the UK today after shock figures showed a net increase of almost three-quarters of a million people in 2022. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) drastically revised its figure for the year to December up from 606,000 to 745,000, an increase of 139,000, almost the same as the population of Cambridge.

The figures for the year to June 2023 hit 672,000, up from 607,000 in the previous 12 months but slightly down on the revised December record, driven by a fall in humanitarian arrivals, including those from Ukraine and Hong Kong.

The ONS said immigration is now being driven by non-EU ‘migrants coming for work’.

Though the level has fallen thanks to the revision, it is likely to lead to renewed anger on the Tory right and calls for a clampdown before the country heads to the polls – which could be as early as May.

The New Conservatives group on the Tory right has called for ministers to close temporary visa schemes for care workers and cap the number of refugees resettling in the UK at 20,000 as part of an effort to slash net migration to 226,000 by the time of the election expected next year. 

The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised the ‘overall numbers will come down’ on migration.

Former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke said: This level of legal immigration is unsustainable both economically and socially. There is no public mandate for it, it is beyond our public services’ capacity to support and it undercuts UK productivity and wages by substituting cheaper foreign labour.

The Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) drastically revised its figure for the year to December up from 606,000 to 745,000, an increase of 139,000, almost the same as the population of Cambridge .

It is likely to lead to renewed anger on the Tory right and calls for a clampdown before the country heads to the polls – which could be as early as May.

The New Conservatives group on the Tory right has called for ministers to close temporary visa schemes for care workers and cap the number of refugees resettling in the UK at 20,000 as part of an effort to slash net migration to 226,000 by the time of the election expected next year.

‘We need an urgent change of approach. The earnings threshold for visa applications needs to be raised significantly. The shortage occupations list needs to be radically descoped. As set out by the Chancellor, we need to ensure more Britons are supported into work.’

Net migration takes into account the number of people arriving in the UK on a long term basis minus those who leave. Most of the recent surge has been driven by arrivals from countries such as Ukraine and Hong Kong.

The ONS’s Jay Lindop said: ‘Net migration to the UK has been running at record levels, driven by a rise in people coming for work, increasing numbers of students and a series of world events.

‘Before the pandemic, migration was relatively stable but patterns and behaviours have been shifting considerably since then.

‘More recently, we’re not only seeing more students arrive, but we can also see they’re staying for longer. More dependants of people with work and study visas have arrived too, and immigration is now being driven by non-EU arrivals.

‘The latest numbers are higher than 12 months ago but are down slightly on our updated figures for year ending December 2022. It is too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend.’

The rise in non-EU immigration in the year ending June 2023 was mainly driven by migrants coming for work, the ONS said.

This was up to 33 per cent from 23 per cent in year ending June 2022 and can be largely attributed to people arriving on health and care visas, the statistics body said.

People arriving on humanitarian routes fell from 19 per cent to 9 per cent over the same period, the ONS said.

The majority of these were Ukrainians and British Nationals (Overseas).

An estimated 80,000 people arrived long-term on these visas, of which 47,000 were BN(O) and 33,000 were Ukrainians.

Those arriving long-term on Ukraine visa schemes peaked in the year ending December 2022 at 109,000, the ONS said.

The issue of reducing net migration has been a long-standing problem for the Tories, with then-prime minister David Cameron promising to bring it down to the ‘tens of thousands’ in 2010.

The Government has introduced measures to prevent overseas students bringing dependents with them to the UK but while those ‘will lead to a significant reduction’ over time, the changes ‘won’t impact the figures this week’, a spokesman for Rishi Sunak said this week.

He said the Government ‘obviously’ wants to see legal migration fall, but added that ‘our priority still remains small boats crossings’.

Mr Sunak is said to be ‘actively looking’ at what more can be done to reduce legal migration.

Net migration will be 150,000 higher over the next five years than previously thought, the Treasury watchdog suggested yesterday.

The Office for Budget Responsibility gave the estimate in its report alongside the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

It is assuming there will be a much slower fall in numbers from the record 606,000 in the 2022 calendar year to the Office for National Statistics’ long-term projection of 245,000 a year.   

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