The United Kingdom witnessed a record level of net migration last year, posing a challenge to the government, which had promised to significantly reduce the number of people coming into the country, particularly after Brexit. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), net migration reached 606,000, with 1.2 million people arriving in the country and only half that number leaving. This figure is expected to put pressure on the current Conservative government and its leaders, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, as previous governments have sought to lower migration levels as a way to "take control" of the borders.
The ONS noted that the figures were affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions being lifted and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in two new initiatives being launched by the UK to allow Ukrainian refugees to resettle in the country. The vast majority of those arriving (925,000) were non-EU nationals, and asylum seekers accounted for around one in 12 of these individuals, included in the ONS' annual release for the first time.
Jay Lindop, Director of the Centre for International Migration at the ONS, emphasized that "the main drivers of the increase were people coming to the UK from non-EU countries for work, study and for humanitarian purposes." Despite this, the UK government has focused mainly on refugees and asylum-seekers crossing the English Channel on small boats, representing a tiny fraction of overall immigration statistics. This strategy has been criticized by various groups and politicians across the political spectrum for its use of hardline rhetoric.
Critics of the government have long argued that a steady influx of migrants is necessary to support the workforce and boost public services, such as healthcare, which suffer from chronic staffing shortages. Nonetheless, successive Conservative prime ministers since the Brexit campaign have made reducing immigration a primary issue to gain support from the right of their party. Sunak has continued in this vein, recently stating at the G7 summit that the legal migration to the UK is "too high," without providing a specific plan to reduce it.
The Conservative Party's 2019 election manifesto included a pledge to decrease the number of "lower-skilled migrants" and overall migration levels. However, net migration has doubled since then, causing consternation amongst the opposition Labour Party. "Today’s extraordinary figures, including doubling the number of work visas since the pandemic, show the Conservatives have no plan & no grip when it comes to immigration," shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper wrote on Twitter. "Ministers have completely failed to tackle skills shortages or help people back into work after Covid," she added.
Overall, the government faces a challenge as immigration levels look set to continue increasing due to global events. It must balance controlling the borders with ensuring sufficient numbers of skilled workers and supporting public services that depend on them.