And so there we have it. Despite all the talk of Britain “taking back control”, despite all the talk of lowering immigration, despite all the talk of reforming a national economy which is clearly broken, this morning it was revealed net migration into Britain has soared to a new and historically unprecedented record of 606,000 —meaning 606,000 more people entered the country than left.
Some of the numbers are truly staggering —like the fact 1.2 million people migrated into Britain last year, of which 925,000 came from outside Europe. Or the fact net migration has surged by another 118,000 people since 2021 alone, and has nearly doubled since before the Covid-19 pandemic. Or the fact the number of asylum-seekers who are arriving from outside Europe has surged to a new high of 76,000. Or the fact the number of people who are arriving on study-related visas since 2020 has rocketed by nearly 250,000. Or the fact the number of relatives of international students who are now also entering Britain has more than doubled in only two years.
There are a lot of arguments that could be made right now.