MOSCOW, November 23 (Sputnik) — UK Home Secretary Theresa May has issued a government declaration stating that it will fail to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands by the general election next year, reports The Guardian.
In a setback to David Cameron, who issued a “no ifs, no buts” pledge to meet the target; the home secretary said it was “unlikely” the government would achieve its goal.
Theresa May said, “It is of course unlikely that we are going to reach the tens of thousands by the end of the parliament. It is because we have seen increasing numbers of people coming from across Europe, partly because our economy is doing better than other economies across Europe,” reports Reuters.
“We have been doing what we can in relation to EU migration but there is more to be done,” she added.
British ministers have said in private for more than a year that they have no expectation of meeting the prime minister’s pledge to bring immigration below 100,000 by the time of the election, reports The Guardian.
May’s statement comes at a time when the prime minister prepares to deliver a long-awaited speech on immigration. Downing Street believes Britain has to block access to benefits and reform the EU’s rules on the free movement of people. The government has reduced migration from outside the EU. But it has missed the net migration target because it has no control over immigration from EU full member states.
In April 2011 the prime minister delivered an unequivocal declaration to reduce immigration. Cameron said at the time: “I believe that will mean net migration to this country will be in the order of tens of thousands each year, not the hundreds of thousands every year that we have seen over the last decade, as stated by the BBC.
“Yes, Britain will always be open to the best and brightest from around the world and those fleeing persecution. But with us, our borders will be under control and immigration will be at levels our country can manage. No ifs. No buts. That’s a promise we made to the British people, and it’s a promise we are keeping.”
