Immigration blow for David Cameron as new figures reveal SOARING UK arrivals

DAVID Cameron's immigration pledge has been dealt yet another blow after new figures revealed a further surge in arrivals to Britain from abroad.

Immigration is continuing to ruse, according to new ONS figuresPA

Immigration is continuing to ruse, according to new ONS figures

A net flow of 298,000 migrants into Britain was recorded in the 12 months to last September - equal roughly to the population of Nottingham.

This represents a "significant increase" when compared with the previous year, in which there was a net flow of 210,000 people into the UK, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The increase in net migration was driven by a rise in immigrants arriving in the UK - up to 624,000 in the year to last September from 530,000 in the previous 12 months. 

Around 327,000 people left the UK in the same period.

There were significant increases in immigration of non-European Union citizens - up 49,000 to 292,000 - and EU nationals - up 43,000 to 251,000, over the period.

A "statistically significant increase" was also noted in  Romanian and Bulgarian citizens arriving in the UK - up to 37,000 from 24,000 in the previous 12 months.

Of these, 27,000 were coming for work, a rise of 10,000 on the year ending September 2013, the ONS added.

On January 1 2014, the restrictions on nationals from the two countries coming to the UK to work were lifted.

Around 271,000 people came to the UK for work in the 12 months to last September, up 54,000 on the previous year, while immigration for study rose from 175,000 to 192,000.

The new figures are worrying news for the Prime Minister, who previously promised to slash net migration to below 100,000 by this May's General Election.

They quite rightly will have to suffer the embarrassment of having made a commitment on something which people care about passionately - which is immigration - and they have failed spectacularly to deliver

Nick Clegg

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Tories would have to "suffer the embarrassment of having...failed spectacularly to deliver".

Speaking on his weekly LBC Radio phone-in show, he said: "I said to David Cameron he shouldn't make the commitment because it was inevitable he was going to break it because you can't control the net figure.

"They made that commitment - we said we were not going to do it as a coalition government...and they are now going to have to suffer the embarrassment.

"It is very embarrassing for the Conservatives. They made a huge amount of fanfare about it and they were warned by me and others 'Don't do this, it doesn't make any sense'.

"Now, of course, they quite rightly will have to suffer the embarrassment of having made a commitment on something which people care about passionately - which is immigration - and they have failed spectacularly to deliver.

Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire described the new figures as "disappointing".

He said: "Uncontrolled, mass immigration makes it difficult to maintain social cohesion, puts pressure on public services and can force down wages.

"That's why this Government is working to reduce net migration - and why today's figures are clearly so disappointing.

"As we have said for some time, we have been blown off course by net migration from within the EU, which has more than doubled since 2010.

The figures are a blow the David Cameron's immigration pledgePA

The figures are a blow the David Cameron's immigration pledge

"That's why we need to continue to crack down on the abuse of EU free movement and continue our reforms to make our welfare system fairer and less open to abuse.

"We have scrapped housing benefit for EU jobseekers, have limited benefits claims for EU migrants with no prospect of a job - and the Prime Minister has set out our plans for further reform.

"We also need to make sure those people who come to the UK on time-limited visas, such as students, do leave at the end of their visa.

He added: "The immigration system we inherited was open to widespread abuse and gave little consideration to whether migrants could support themselves or contribute to the UK when they arrived.

"We are building a system that is fair to British citizens and legitimate migrants and tough on those who abuse the system or flout the law - but we know there is much more to do."

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said that work-related factors contributed to the rise in migration.

She said: "UK job growth is likely to be a key factor behind the recent increases.

"If the UK's economic performance compared to the rest of the EU had been poor, then we might well have seen net migration fall, but that has not happened.

"Rising work-related migration from outside the EU has also contributed."

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