Net migration hits record high as fewer leave Britain
Net migration to Britain last year hit a record high, according to official figures. In a blow to the Government's pledge to tighten Britain's borders, the Office for National Statistics said net migration in 2010 was 252,000.
The ONS said that while immigration was steady at 591,000, the rise in the net figure was due to the falling number of people leaving the country.
In all, 339,000 people emigrated from the UK - the lowest level of emigration since 2001. Emigration by non-British citizens also fell to 203,000 from a peak of 255,000 in 2008.
Immigration minister Damian Green insisted that the Government remained committed to reducing net migration to the "tens of thousands" during the course of the current Parliament. He said that after peaking in September last year, the numbers had started to come down.
"These figures show that the Government was right to take swift action to overhaul the immigration system," he said. "Latest quarterly figures show a decrease in the number of student and work visas issued compared with a year earlier - an early sign that our policies are starting to take effect.
But Labour claimed the figures showed a fall of 12 per cent in the number of people caught and turned away at Britain's ports between summer last year and summer this year.
Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant argued that this showed that Home Secretary Theresa May's pilot scheme was not working. "These figures just go to show you can't trust what this Government and this Home Secretary say about immigration."
