Migration to United Kingdom reaches record high

EU officials have highlighted Britain’s demands on immigration as the most problematic in the renegotiation, warning that they jar with basic EU treaty law barring discrimination against EU citizens on national grounds.

Estimated net migration – the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the United Kingdom – has hit a record new level, data reveals.

The ONS said in August that 636,000 migrants came to live in Britain in the 12 months to the end of March, a year-on-year rise of 84,000, while 307,000 emigrated.

Net migration of European Union citizens was up over 30% compared to the previous year period, while the rise of net migration from outside the European Union was also significant at 22%.

It will prompt renewed scrutiny of the Conservatives’ aim of reducing net migration to five figures.

Alp Mehmet, vice chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: “These are very disappointing figures – net migration is running at a third of a million a year with no sign of any forthcoming reduction”.

“These record high figures represent a continuation of the government’s complete failure to control immigration”, said Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

LONDON – Migration to Britain has reached a new record high, according to official data released Thursday that could make uncomfortable viewing for the government of Prime Minister David Cameron.

A number of measures to reduce net migration have been implemented in recent years and a bill now going through Parliament includes new sanctions for illegal workers.

Jay Lindop, head of population statistics at ONS, said: “Today’s figures show that annual net migration is at a similar level to that reported last quarter and remains the highest on record”.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire accused British businesses of being over-reliant on foreign workers and said that it had been too easy for companies to hire from overseas.

Either way, migration figures may not change due to political manoeuvring. In fact while we remain inside the European Union, we can not control migration.

The numbers are a fresh headache for Cameron, who has pledged to cut net immigration to less than 100,000 “no ifs, no buts”.