Rishi Sunak refuses to commit to net migration under 500,000 by election

When WILL you bring immigration down, Rishi? Sunak refuses to commit to getting net inflows back under 500,000 by election – despite manifesto pledging numbers will be below 226,000

Rishi Sunak has dodged on whether immigration will be running below 500,000 by the time of the next election – despite the Tory manifesto promising numbers will be below 226,000.

The PM conceded that net migration into the UK is ‘too high’ but refused to spell out what would be an acceptable level.

With figures next week expected to show another record amid the chaos in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong, Mr Sunak ducked over whether he would get inflows under the 504,000 reached in the year to last June.

Instead he appeared to put the blame on predecessor Boris Johnson, saying he was focused on lowering the level he ‘inherited’.  

Mr Sunak has been struggling to contain Cabinet infighting over immigration, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman publicly pushing for tough action while other ministers say foreign workers and student are needed to keep the economy running.

Rishi Sunak (pictured at the G7 summit in Hiroshima) has dodged on whether immigration will be running below 500,000 by the time of the next election

Officials said the increase in the year to last June was driven by hundreds of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine

Officials said the increase in the year to last June was driven by hundreds of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine 

During a round of interviews at Hiroshima’s Seifukan tea house this morning as the G7 summit kicks off, Mr Sunak said he is ‘crystal clear’ he wants to reduce net migration.

But he said to BBC News: ‘I’m not going to put a precise figure on it but I do want to bring them down.

‘The numbers are too high and we want to bring them down. Now, the numbers last year were impacted by the fact that we welcomed Ukrainian refugees to the UK. Again, that’s something I think we are proud of.’

The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised that ‘overall numbers will come down’ as the Government ends freedom of movement in the wake of Brexit.

Migration levels were at 226,000 then. They exceeded 500,000 in the year to June 2022 and it could be as high as one million in new figures due to be published in the coming weeks.

Mr Sunak avoided giving a specific commitment when pressed by Sky News whether he can bring down net migration to below 500,000 by the next election,

He said: ‘I’m committed to bringing down the levels of migration that I inherited, and I’m relentlessly focused on stopping the boats, that’s one of my five priorities, and we’re doing absolutely everything we can to do that.’

Mr Sunak raised migration with allies at a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland on Tuesday.

The PM believes he had made ‘another big step forward’ with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the UK working with the bloc’s border force, Frontex.

And he also held talks with the president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Siofra O’Leary, over a review of the working of Rule 39.

The order was used to block the inaugural forced removal flight of refugees to Rwanda last year.

Mr Sunak sees the stalled policy as key to reducing unauthorised entries to the UK.

The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised that 'overall numbers will come down' as the Government ends freedom of movement in the wake of Brexit

The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised that ‘overall numbers will come down’ as the Government ends freedom of movement in the wake of Brexit

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