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Sir Keir Starmer will hold a press conference later this afternoon to address the sharp fall in net migration.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that net migration has fallen by 20 per cent this year, after reaching a record high of more than 900,000 in 2023.
It fell to 728,000 in the year to June 2024. But this came after net migration figures for the year to June 2023 were revised upwards to 906,000 from the initial estimate of 740,000, the ONS said.
Meanwhile, the cost of the UK’s asylum system has risen to £5 billion, the highest level of spending on record and up by more than a third in a year, according to separate Home Office data published at the same time.
The figures come as new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch admitted her party had failed on migration.
Downing Street said the statistics “show that the government inherited a situation from the previous government where they had effectively run Britain as an experiment in open borders”.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said net migration “remains far too high” and the UK needs stricter border controls.
‘Serious damage’ has been done to immigration system, says home secretary
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said that “serious damage” has been done to the immigration system – as net migration figures showing that the UK’s population grew by 906,000 people in 2023 are revealed.
Commenting on the latest figures, she said: “In the space of four years net migration rose by almost five times to a record high – that shows the serious damage that was done to the immigration system, the lack of proper controls in place, and the over reliance on a big increase in overseas recruitment. Net migration is still four times higher than it was at the beginning of the last parliament and we are clear that it needs to come down.”
Keir Starmer’s great ‘reset’ win as he is invited to meeting of EU leaders for first time since Brexit
Keir Starmer is set to be invited to a meeting of EU leaders in what will be seen as a sign of success for his plans for a great Brexit “reset’”.
It will be the first time a British prime minister has been asked to attend such a gathering since the UK’s exit from the European Union in 2020.
And it will be seen as an early win for Sir Keir’s plans to improve the UK’s damaged relationship with the bloc in the wake of Brexit.
Kate Devlin reports
Number of Vietnamese migrants crossing Channel on small boats soars 177% in a year
The number of Vietnamese migrants arriving to the UK on small boats has jumped by 177 per cent year-on-year, according to new data on Channel crossings.
Home Office figures published on Thursday showed that from January to September this year the two most common nationalities making perilous journeys across the Channel were Afghans and Vietnamese.
Compared to the same nine-month period last year, the number of Afghan arrivals has decreased by 14 per cent, but the number of Vietnamese is up by a staggering 177 per cent.
Some 3,132 Vietnamese small boat migrants made the journey from January to September this year – up from 1,306 in the whole of 2023.
Holly Bancroft reports
ICYMI: Net migration falls after reaching record high of 900,000 in 2023
Net migration to the UK has fallen this year, after reaching a record high of more than 900,000 in 2023 – 166,000 more than previously thought.
It fell to 728,000 in the year to June 2024, a decline of 20 per cent. But this came after net migration figures for the year to June 2023 were revised upwards to 906,000 from the initial estimate of 740,000, provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicates.
A similar change was made for the year to December 2023, which was initially estimated to be 685,000, and is now thought to be 866,000 – an increase of 181,000.
Millie Cooke reports
Watch: Home Office minister repeatedly declines to give amount of ‘acceptable’ level of migration
EXCLUSIVE: Matt Hancock urges MPs to back assisted dying after constituent’s cancer tragedy changed his mind
Matt Hancock has urged MPs to back Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill, recounting his experience with a constituent suffering from terminal cancer who begged him to change the law.
The former health secretary told The Independent it is time for the law to change, saying it is wrong that some people are “still forced to have very painful deaths”.
“I can remember the moment that I changed my mind and became in favour of assisted dying when I was health secretary”, Mr Hancock said, telling the story of David Minns, one of his Suffolk constituents, who died last year.
Millie Cooke reports
Reform UK closes in on Tory membership numbers
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has announced that the party now has more than 100,000 members, up from around 15,000 a year ago.
“Momentum and trajectory are much more important than absolute position,” he told assembled press at a conference in London.
The party is polling around 20 per cent, also up from around 10 per cent this time last year. It means Reform is closing in on the Tory membership figure of 131,680.
Without leaving the ECHR we cannot combat illegal immigration, Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage has promised to slash illegal migration by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights if Reform UK wins the next election.
The Reform leader said there is “nothing we can do” to stop illegal immigration inside the convention. “When it comes to legal immigration, it’s perfectly clear that the more low-skilled people we take in, the poorer the rest of the population gets,” Mr Farage said.
He added: “During six of the last eight quarters, GDP per capita has fallen, whilst net migration figures have legally reached the highest number ever.
“The link is clear. We have to drastically reduce the numbers coming into Britain.”
BREAKING: Andrea Jenkyns running for mayor of Lincolnshire for Reform UK
Former Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns has joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, and will stand for the party as its candidate for the newly created Lincolnshire mayoralty next year.
“Today I have joined the party of the brave,” she said after being unveiled at a press conference in London.
The move is a blow to Kemi Badenoch, as Ms Jenkyns was an influential figure on the right of the Tory party under Rishi Sunak.
Farage promises to use Elon Musk as blueprint if Reform comes to power
Nigel Farage has promised to use Elon Musk’s work in the Department for Government Efficiency as a blueprint in “cutting the administrative state” if Reform UK comes to power after the next general election.
The Reform UK leader described the Trump ally and billionaire as his “new friend” and said he was excited for Mr Musk to take up the role, designed to slash billions of dollars worth of government spending.
