Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to Theresa May’s interview on the Andrew Marr programme this morning, said:

“Theresa May says she is sticking to her net migration target yet it is badly failing and no one believes she has any chance of meeting it next year.

“David Cameron and Theresa May promised “no ifs no buts” they would cut net migration to the tens of thousands by the end of this Parliament. Yet four years into the Parliament the figures have been going up not down, and it is currently more than double their target.

“For the Home Secretary to keep making big pledges and failing to meet them undermines trust in the whole immigration system.

“The Conservatives are now hinting they will support some of Labour’s proposals to tackle undercutting of jobs and wages, restrict benefits further for new migrants, and reform free movement for new countries - I hope they do support our plans.

“But why did they vote against our proposals in the last Immigration Bill? And their sketchy proposals just aren’t going far enough. We need changes in the law to stop agencies recruiting only from abroad, tackle abuse of zero hours contracts, strengthen enforcement of the minimum wage and make serious exploitation a criminal offence. And Ed Miliband has already set out plans to ensure out of work benefits are not available to new EU migrants for the first six months.

“Instead of their failed net migration target the Government should recognise there are different kinds of immigration - they should take tougher action with stronger border controls to tackle illegal immigration, and they should remove university students from the net migration target altogether.

“Having lost so many votes and seats while their net migration target is failing badly, the Tories seem to be rushing for more headlines before they have policies worked out.

“Instead they should accept the practical policies we have put forward over the last two years to strengthen border control, tackle the impact of immigration on wages and jobs, reform EU controls, and replace the net migration target with a smarter system.

“Immigration is important for Britain and that’s why it needs to be properly controlled and managed. Public concern about immigration is considerable. That’s why we need sensible fair policies, not just rhetoric, headlines and more failed targets.”