Rishi Sunak says he is 'committed' to bring net migration numbers down

2023-05-21

Rishi Sunak says he is ‘committed’ about the need to bring net migration numbers down as ministers plan crackdown on student visas

Ministers are braced for net migration to reach a record 700,000 this week
It comes as the PM spoke at a press conference at the G7 summit in Hiroshima

Rishi Sunak yesterday said he was ‘unequivocal’ about the need to cut net migration as ministers finalise plans for a crackdown on student visas.

The Prime Minister said he was ‘committed to bringing the numbers down’ and was looking at ‘a range of measures’ to curb the number of people coming to this country.

Ministers are braced for net migration to reach a record 700,000 when official figures for the last year are published this week.

Mr Sunak has refused to set a net migration target but said last week he was committed to reducing the level from the 504,000 he ‘inherited’. This figure is double the level at the last election when the Tory manifesto pledged to reduce overall numbers.

Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit in Hiroshima yesterday, the PM ducked questions about whether the Government owed the public an apology for failing to control migration levels. But he acknowledged the number of arrivals was now ‘too high’.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference following the G7 summit on May 21, 2023 in Hiroshima, Japan

Ministers are braced for net migration to reach a record 700,000 when official figures for the last year are published this week

Responding to a question from the Mail, he said: ‘On the topic of legal migration, let me be clear – the numbers are too high.

‘We are obviously considering a range of measures to bring the numbers down and I’ll have more to say on that shortly. But let me be unequivocal, I think the numbers for legal migrations are too high and I am committed to bringing those numbers down.’ Mr Sunak also said he had made progress in recent days on tackling the Channel migrant crisis, citing new talks on a border deal with the EU. The PM also discussed the issue during private talks with Emmanuel Macron at the G7.

The PM’s comments come as ministers consider a crackdown on student visas in response to public concern about soaring immigration levels. Whitehall sources said ministers were likely to agree restrictions on the ability of foreign students studying one-year post-graduate courses to bring their dependants with them.

But Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are resisting plans by Home Secretary Suella Braverman for a wider clampdown, arguing it would hurt the economy and damage the university sector which is reliant on foreign students. New proposals are expected within the next month. Surging student numbers are a key factor in the rise in migration levels in recent years, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Its data shows those arriving on study visas accounted for the largest proportion (39 per cent) of long-term immigration of non-EU nationals in the year to June 2022, at 277,000 people. That was up from 143,000 in the previous 12 months.

Meanwhile Labour continued to flip-flop on the issue. After party chairman Anneliese Dodds said on Friday that net migration should increase in the short-term to fill job vacancies, health spokesman Wes Streeting told The Sun it is already ‘at a level the country will not be able to cope with’. Then yesterday care spokesman Liz Kendall told Sky News: ‘I expect it to come down.’

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