Latest migration figures expected to show further increase in arrivals to the UK
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New figures are expected to show a further increase in people arriving to the UK, as Rishi Sunak continues to face pressure from within his party to reduce net migration.
Numbers released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday are expected to show a record high for the year to June 2023.
Net migration takes into account the amount of people arriving in the UK, minus those who leave, and in 2022 the figure was a record 606,000.
The latest figure could be as high as 700,000, the Daily Mail reported earlier this week.
The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised the “overall numbers will come down” on migration.
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 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 Government has introduced measures to prevent overseas students bringing dependants 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 said.
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.
