Daily Junction.mobi portalNo government will do this.
Polls show:
This is an impossible political dilemma: the public wants low immigration, but the economy needs high immigration.
Result: Politicians promise to reduce immigration (to win votes), but then allow high immigration (to keep the economy running). This has been true for 20 years (under Labour and Conservative governments) and will continue.
Net migration hit record 745,000 in 2022 (672,000 in 2023) despite Brexit promises to reduce immigration. Brexit ended EU free movement (200,000 per year), but the government replaced it with a points-based system that allows more non-EU immigration (700,000 per year from India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China). The government chose high immigration because businesses need workers (NHS, care, hospitality, agriculture), universities need international students (£10 billion revenue), and the economy needs growth.
The government has tightened rules (banned care workers bringing families, raised salary threshold to £38,700, banned students bringing families), reducing net migration to an estimated 350,000 in 2024 — still 3x higher than the public wants (100,000). The UK economy needs 200,000+ immigrants per year to fill labour shortages, making it impossible to cut immigration below 100,000 without economic damage.
The result is a permanent political crisis: Leave voters wanted less immigration, but got more. Politicians promise to reduce immigration, but then allow high immigration to keep the economy running. This has been true for 20 years and will continue. Expect net migration to stabilize at 200,000-300,000 per year — lower than 2022-23 peak (745,000) but higher than the public wants (100,000). Brexit gave the UK control over immigration, but the government chose high immigration because the economy needs it.