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Media Coverage
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The Sun (01 Mar 2016)
Britain risks migration timebomb as population set to swell by 500,000 a year -
The Daily Mail (26 Feb 2016)
Pull the other one, Dave: Another set of devastating migration figures, but PM still insists the numbers can be slashed -
The Daily Express (26 Feb 2016)
Net migration THREE TIMES more than predicted, in major blow to Cameron's EU campaign -
The Morning Star (26 Feb 2016)
The Migration Conflation -
The Times (26 Feb 2016)
Blow for Cameron as migration reaches ‘new norm’ of 320,000 -
AOL News (25 Feb 2016)
Net migration to UK falls from record levels, sparking row among EU rival camps -
Metro (25 Feb 2016)
Migration to UK rose to 323,000 in year ending September 2015 – but has actually FALLEN since last quarter -
The Argus (25 Feb 2016)
Net migration to UK falls but stays close to record levels -
BBC News (25 Feb 2016)
Net migration at 323,000 prompts EU referendum row -
The Daily Mail (25 Feb 2016)
Overall net migration down from record levels, official figures show
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The Sun (01 Mar 2016)
New data show that annual net migration to the UK stood at 323,000 in the year to September 2015. While this is lower than the previous two quarters, it means that net migration has now exceeded 300,000 for almost two years, the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said today.
The new data show that in the year to September 2015 nearly half of non-British net migration (172,000) was EU citizens. Non EU citizens accounted for 191,000 while net migration of UK citizens was negative (-40,000).
The two largest categories of immigration to the UK were EU citizens arriving for work (30% of inflows) and non-EU citizens coming to study (21%). Other categories were smaller, such as non-EU work (12%) and non-EU family migration (8%).
Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “Free movement within the EU is not the only driver of recent high levels of net migration, but it has played an important role. While EU migration is a defining issue in the referendum debate, the truth is that it’s difficult to predict EU migration levels with confidence in either the stay or leave scenario. Whether Brexit would reduce migration will depend in part on the treaties and policies that followed, and these cannot be known in advance.”
The last time net migration briefly exceeded 300,000 was in the year ending June 2005, when non-EU net migration was at a historical peak of just over 250,000 and EU enlargement had enabled a sharp increase in arrivals from Eastern Europe.
Sumption added: “Sustained high levels of net migration raise the question of whether we are experiencing a temporary peak or a ‘new normal’ in the UK. In the short term, the UK remains an attractive destination with low unemployment and robust job growth so there’s no reason to expect a dramatic change to migration levels. In the long run, migration is much harder to predict. It will depend on many different factors from future policy changes to economic growth in other countries.”
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