Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls urgent No 10 press conference

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to hold an urgent press conference at 3pm (Thursday, November 28) in Downing Street, following the release of a significant batch of data on migration. The Prime Minister's spokesman had earlier accused the Tories of treating "Britain as an experiment in open borders" after revised estimates revealed a record 906,000 net migration to the UK in 2023.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the revised figure for the 12 months to June last year represents a 166,000 increase from the initial estimate of 740,000. The estimates, which cover the period of the previous Conservative government's administration prior to the general election, have since decreased by 20% to 728,000 in the latest period for the year to June 2024.

A similar revision has been made to the provisional figure for net migration in the year to December 2023, which was initially estimated to be 685,000 but is now believed to be 866,000 - an increase of 181,000. In addition, separate data from the Home Office reveals that the cost of the UK's asylum system has risen to a record £5 billion, representing a more than 30% increase in just one year.

These figures come as new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch concedes that her party has failed on migration. Downing Street has stated that the current statistics "show that the Government inherited a situation from the previous government where they had effectively run Britain as an experiment in open borders" due to the policies and decisions of the last administration.

The Prime Minister's official spokesperson did not comment on whether Labour's approach would be more stringent than the Tories', but emphasised that the Government was "elected on a mandate to change the country and put the people's priorities at the heart of delivery, and that means bringing down these record high levels of legal migration and tackling the root causes behind it". , reports the Mirror.

Earlier on Thursday, Migration Minister Seema Malhotra refrained from specifying an acceptable level of net migration when repeatedly asked for a figure. Instead, she told BBC Breakfast that policy should be based on "a credible and serious plan" and the Government should not "just pull figures out of the air".

Former Home Secretaries James Cleverly and Suella Braverman, both of whom have previously expressed hopes of becoming Tory leader, took credit for the decrease in numbers during their tenure at the Home Office. However, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp argued that net migration "remains far too high" and called for stricter border controls in the UK.

In her address on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch admitted to a "collective failure of political leaders from all parties over decades" in dealing with migration, stating: "On behalf of the Conservative Party, it is right that I as the new leader accept responsibility, and say truthfully we got this wrong. I more than understand the public anger on this issue. I share it."