Immigration to the UK falls by almost 50 per cent amid tough policies | Immigration Issues

The ONS says total migration fell to 171,000 in the 12 months to the end of December from 331,000 a year earlier.

Long-term immigration to the United Kingdom is set to halve by 2025, the sharpest drop since the end of the pre-Brexit migration process, as tougher government measures put in place in recent years have curbed arrivals.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday that net migration fell to 171,000 in the 12 months to the end of December from 331,000 a year earlier, widening the sharp drop from a forecast of 944,000 in 2023.

Immigration – both legal and illegal – has been a source of political controversy for more than a decade, with successive governments imposing stricter visa regulations and higher wages. The current government has promised to move forward.

The British Future think tank says the country is “experiencing a dramatic fall in net migration”, but many people believe otherwise, according to its research.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood welcomed the hard policy progress, but said work remained to be done.

“We will always welcome those who support this country and want to build a better life here. But we must restore stability and control our borders,” he said, adding that the new government move rewards people who help and ends dependence on “cheap foreign workers”.

On Saturday, right-winger Tommy Robinson drew a photo tens of thousands of people in London to attend his “unite Kingdom” tour. Islamophobic and ethnonationalist posters were distributed to the crowd. “In a country full of bad people, hateful and foreign political enemies . . .

Meanwhile, employers and economists have expressed concern about job losses, particularly in sectors such as care and hospitality.

The ONS said long-term migration is now close to its peak before the new migration system is introduced in early 2021, when the UK transitions to membership of the European Union, and while the COVID restrictions remain in place.

The drop reflects a change in policy from 2024, when the previous Conservative government banned more international students from bringing dependents and raised fees for skilled visas.

The current Labor government has toughened its policies as it seeks to tackle Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which is campaigning on an anti-immigration platform and has a double-digit lead in the polls.

To this end, the government last year decided to end the recruitment of foreign workers, which has been the biggest driver of employment in recent years, and raise the salary for skilled visas. It has since announced major reforms, including plans to speed up deportations of illegal immigrants and extend the eligibility period for some workers to become permanent residents to 10 years, as well as make them temporary refugees.