David Hanson, Labour’s shadow immigration minister, said:

“George Osborne has finally admitted the Government will fail to meet its own net migration target, despite David Cameron’s "no ifs, no buts” promise.

“His claims about Labour are  just a smokescreen of desperate falsehoods to divert attention from the Government’s failure.

"This Government’s record has been a fall in criminal deportations, a weakening of border control and a failure to tackle exploitation at work which can undercut local wages and jobs.

"At the same time their target obsession has driven away valuable university students and investment opportunities.

"George Osborne is left misleading people about Labour’s plans when it is his Government that has failed to listen to our calls for stronger border controls and enforcement, refused to tackle illegal immigration and failed to meet its own target.

‎"Labour is calling for stronger border controls to stop illegal entry but the Government is failing to introduce them. A future Labour government would bring back fingerprinting of illegal immigrants at Calais, and introduce proper in out checks so visas can be enforced.

"We also need to strengthen future controls for new EU accession countries, require people to be in the UK for longer before they can access benefits and to deport those who break our laws.”