Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said:
“David Cameron and Theresa May’s net migration target has been ripped to shreds.
“Net migration - which the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister handpicked as their measure and target for migration - is going up. It is now 16,000 higher than when they took office, and almost three times their target level.
"Yet David Cameron promised "no ifs, no buts” he would meet his target. It is no wonder that concerns rise when politicians make such grand promises they don’t keep. And though migration from the EU has risen again, so has migration from outside of the EU – despite claims from the Home Office that this was reducing.
“The net migration target is the worst of all worlds. It doesn’t include illegal immigration, where we know enforcement has got worse. Yet it has encouraged the Government to target valuable university students, where the numbers have flat lined, even though they bring billions into Britain. And it is just wrong to include refugees in the target too. At the same time the Government haven’t put in place proper border controls so we can count people in and out to enforce the rules.
“Immigration needs to be controlled and managed because it is important to Britain but the system needs to be fair. A Labour Government will get a grip of our borders with 1,000 more staff, stronger enforcement to stop employers exploiting cheap migrant labour to undercut wages and jobs, new rules to make sure people contribute first and can’t claim benefits until they have lived here for two years, and pursue European reform to strengthen transitional controls and change child benefit rules. We would bring in different controls and targets for different kinds of immigration so we can cut illegal immigration, reduce low skilled migration but still get the University students who benefit Britain.
“David Cameron and Theresa May have simply ramped up the rhetoric without ever bringing in practical measures to address the impact of immigration or make the system fair. That has deeply damaged confidence in the whole system and proved divisive too. Their strategy is failing and their false promises ring hollow. They need to stop taking people for fools and set out a sensible debate with practical policies instead.”
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