Immigration figures to be unveiled

Nov 19 2008

Immigration statistics for the UK are be released and are expected to show net migration into the country has risen to 200,000 a year.

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has said the population should not exceed 70 million.

The Home Office said its new points-based system allows only those migrants with the required skills to come in to the country.

The Tories have called for a cap on the number of immigrants allowed in from outside the EU.

If, as expected, migration figures top 200,000, it will mean immigrants have added 1.8 million to the population since Labour came to power in 1997. That year net migration was 50,000.

In 2006 the Office for National Statistics said net migration stood at 190,000.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said earlier this week that migrants should be protected during the the recession.

The group said newly arrived workers should get quick access to the labour market.

The Government has also been urged to lift restrictions on workers coming in from two eastern European countries.

Ministers will decide by the end of the year whether restrictions on workers from Romania and Bulgaria will continue. The restrictions can be extended for up to three years.