Yesterday the Financial Times reported that migration figures due out later this month are expected to show net migration at record levels. It said net migration was at 504,000 between June 2021 and June 2022, but that the figure for 2022 could pass 700,000.
Today the Telegraph reports that the figure could reach almost one million.
Asked about the reports, Keir Starmer told broadcasters the government had “lost control” of immigration.
I think we need to wait and see what those figures are, but I’ve seen that speculation. I think if we’re anywhere near that figure then it will show the government has completely lost control. We need a managed approach and we haven’t got that.
Like almost everything else under this government, there’s no plan, there’s no control and, just like everything else, it seems like the system is broken.
Starmer’s comments represent a departure because, in the past, Labour has mostly focused it criticism of the government in relation to migration on illegal immigration, where even the home secretary, Suella Braverman, admits the government has lost control.
On legal immigration, in the past Labour has tended to be at least as liberal as the government, or more so. Starmer famously defended “free movement” when he was running for Labour leader.
But with the scale of legal immigration now becoming a political headache for the Tories, he may have sensed an opportunity. Labour has also said that British companies should not be reliant on foreign labour, and that training UK workers should be a bigger priority.