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Net Migration To UK Hits New Record High

Net Migration To UK Hits New Record High

Net migration to Britain was an estimated 330,000 in the year to March - the highest number on record, official figures have revealed.

The net figure - the difference between the number of people entering and leaving - is 10,000 above the previous highest figure, recorded in June 2005.

It is an increase of more than a third compared to the same period last year.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said the figures, from the Office for National Statistics, were "deeply disappointing".

They prompted UKIP leader Nigel Farage to declare in an interview with Sky News that Britain is now a "borderless country".

It is the fifth consecutive quarterly rise in the index - raising new questions about the Conservatives' aim to bring the number below 100,000.

The increase was driven by a record 269,000 EU citizens arriving in Britain.

Statistics also showed that Britain's foreign-born population has surpassed eight million for the first time.

The Government insisted it was acting to control immigration, and claimed the figures should act as a "wake up call for the EU" at a time of unprecedented numbers of people arriving into the bloc.

Mr Brokenshire said: "These stark figures are deeply disappointing.

"While these figures underline the challenges we need to meet to reduce net migration, they should also act as a further wake-up call for the EU.

"Current flows of people across Europe are on a scale we haven't seen since the end of the Second World War.

"This is not sustainable and risks the future economic development of other EU member states.

"It reinforces the need for further reform at an EU level as well as within the UK."

Mr Brokenshire said the Government had cut student fraud, struck off almost 900 bogus colleges and made it tougher for migrants to access welfare and housing.

"But with nearly 100,000 non-EU students remaining in the UK at the end of their courses and British business still overly reliant on foreign workers in a number of sectors, there is much more to do," he said.

Mr Farage went on the attack, saying the figures show the "total impotence" of the Government.

He told Sky News: "If open borders are not part of the Cameron renegotiation then what's the point of it?"

Mr Farage also suggested the true number of people arriving could in fact be higher than the statistics suggest.

He added: "Given 192,000 from Romania and Bulgaria registered for National Insurance in the year period, how can we believe the ONS figure of 53,000 from the same two countries in the same year?"

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, described the statistics as "shocking".

The Labour MP said: "Only one month ago Theresa May told the home affairs committee that net migration of under 100,000 was her target.

"This is clearly not going to happen. Broken promises on migration do not build confidence with the public.

"We need a radically different approach."

The figures also revealed that:

:: The number of people coming into the country was 636,000, a rise of 15% compared with the year ending March last year. This is the highest total since current records began 10 years ago.

:: The number of EU migrants arriving jumped by 56,000, which was described as "statistically significant".

:: The number of people from outside the EU was up by 23,000 to 284,000, but experts said this was not statistically significant.

:: The number of Romanians and Bulgarians arriving has almost doubled to 53,000. Restrictions on people from those nations were lifted in January 2014.

Separate statistics from the ONS show how the make-up of Britain's population has changed over the last 10 years.

Last year one in eight people (13%) in the UK were born abroad, compared to one in 11 in 2004.

The foreign-born population has increased by 4.5% compared to 2013, to 8.3 million.

The net migration figures come as Sky News reports from the front lines of Europe's migrants crisis.

The Hungarian government is building a fence to keep people out, but a spokesman has told Sky News more urgent action is needed.

Sky's Tom Rayner is on Serbia's border with Hungary, and has described a "constant flow" of refugees from Syria into northern Europe.

In Sweden, the country's policy of openness on the subject of immigration is causing tension, as Mark Stone reports.