Suella Braverman mocked for avoiding questions on record immigration figures

Bill McLoughlin25 May 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Suella Braverman was mocked by the Opposition after the Home Secretary missed questions in the Commons on the newly released immigration figures.

Ms Braverman, who came under fire for asking Home Office officials to intervene with a speeding fine, was not present on Thursday as immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, faced questions over the record-high figures.

With Ms Braverman absent from facing questions in the House of Commons, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Where is the Home Secretary who is in charge of these policies?

“She’s gone to ground. There are reports she’s not even going to do media, she’s not going to come to this house and she’s in more internal meetings, presumably in more private meetings arranged by civil servants.

“What is the point of her?”

The Labour Whips Twitter account also took time to poke fun at the Home Secretary by accompanying a screenshot of Mr Jenrick in the Commons, adding: “Presumably Suella is doing a speed awareness course.”

Despite calls for an inquiry into Ms Braverman’s case, Rishi Sunak said she would not face an investigation and that she had later accepted a fine and penalty points on her driving licence.

The ONS figures showed that Immigration in 2022 was up 221,000 compared with the previous year’s 942,000, and 772,000 in the year to December 2019.

Immigration from outside the EU totalled 925,000, up 287,000 on the previous year including a net exodus of 51,000 EU citizens over the 12 months.

A total of 76,000 asylum seekers are being classed as long-term migrants who will stay for over a year, while only 3,000 failed applicants have been returned.

In response, Mr Jenrick pointed to the influx of Ukrainian refugees and British Overseas Nationals from Hong Kong who have caused numbers to rise.

Mr Jenrick added that a package to restrict the migration of the dependants of overseas students would “have a tangible impact on net migration.”

“Taken together with the easing of temporary factors, like our exceptional humanitarian offers, we expect net migration to fall to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term.”

The Prime Minister himself resisted claims the immigration is out of control, saying: “The numbers are too high, it’s as simple as that. And I want to bring them down.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in