Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
The half a brain part being if you voted Brexit thinking this would transform control of our borders. We already had control. The fact is we need immigration. Take the humanitarian routes out of it, and all that has happened is we've opened up to more non-EU migration to replace what we've lost in those from the EU. This was always going to happen. In or out of the EU immigration hasn't been something we have failed to control, it is something our economy has needed. Elephant in the room. Always was. Tories can talk about 100k targets - but that is utter bullshit, and they have no intention of meeting those targets, it is just cake for their voters and Daily Mail readers.Anyone with half a brain would look at the main reasons why immigration has increased over the past year ...
Madeleine Sumption, director of Oxford University's politically independent Migration Observatory research unit, said: "All the forecasts suggested that migration would fall as a result of the post-Brexit immigration scheme, which greatly restricted the options for EU citizens to move to the UK - and indeed, EU net migration remains negative.
"But non-EU migration has risen, primarily not because of the policies designed to replace EU free movement.
"The humanitarian routes for Ukraine and Hong Kong and a rebound in international students have played the largest role in boosting immigration levels.
"These unusually high levels of net migration result from a unique set of circumstances following the war in Ukraine and the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
"We cannot assume they represent a 'new normal', and it would be rash to take major policy decisions based only on these numbers."
.... if anything this is a positive news story as it shows we have been welcoming large numbers of people fleeing war zones and the Uk remains a very attractive destination for international students.
UK net migration hits all-time record at 504,000
The rise is driven by non-EU students and people fleeing conflict and persecution in Hong Kong and Ukraine.www.bbc.co.uk