Member

Five months ago, the figures were published which showed that net migration had reached a record high of more than 900,000 under the last Conservative Government—a figure that had quadrupled in the space of just four years. That was the consequence of specific government choices made from 2020 onwards, including introducing what was, in effect, a free market experiment on immigration: encouraging employers to recruit from abroad and loosening controls in different areas, but without any requirement to tackle skills and labour shortages here at home. Those choices undermined the immigration system and the economy too.