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EU referendum: Migration data to spark debate Net migration to UK rises to 333,000 - second highest on record
(about 9 hours later)
The final statistics before June's referendum on levels of EU migration into the UK are to be published later. Net migration to the UK rose to 333,000 in 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The Office for National Statistics data is expected to spark a fierce debate between Remain and Leave camps. The net figure is the number of people moving to the UK for at least a year, less the number leaving the UK.
One prominent Tory MP has labelled the EU a "job transfer machine", claiming EU migrants are taking jobs which could be going to British workers. The ONS figures estimate that net migration for EU citizens was 184,000.
But Remain supporter Lord Blunkett will say that EU co-operation is the only "rational" way of managing migration. UKIP's Nigel Farage said the numbers showed immigration was "out of control" and Boris Johnson said a vote to stay in the EU would mean "kissing goodbye permanently" to immigration control.
But Home Office minister James Brokenshire said the PM's renegotiation of the UK's membership of the EU would "close back-door routes" and added: "Leaving the EU is absolutely no panacea or silver bullet."
Follow updates with BBC EU Referendum Live
In other developments, with four weeks to go before the UK votes on 23 June on whether to stay in or leave the EU:In other developments, with four weeks to go before the UK votes on 23 June on whether to stay in or leave the EU:
Thursday's figures, to be published at 09:30 BST, will show estimated levels of long-term migration into the UK from within the EU and outside in the year to December 2015. The data covers migrants staying in the UK for at least a year. According to the Office for National Statistics, there was a 20,000 rise in net migration to the UK from the 313,000 for the year to December 2014.
It will also indicate the overall level of net migration - the difference between the number of people remaining in the UK and those leaving. The figure is well above the government's aim of getting it to the "tens of thousands" and is the highest recorded for a calendar year.
An estimated 257,000 EU migrants came to the UK in the year to September 2015, 11,000 higher than the year before. Thursday's figures show estimated levels of long-term migration into the UK from within the EU and outside in the year to December 2015.
Net EU migration rose by 14,000 to 172,000 as overall net migration rose to 323,000 - the second highest level since figures were first recorded. They show that 270,000 EU citizens moved to the UK for at least a year in 2015, up from 264,000 in 2014. The number of non-EU citizens moving to the UK was 277,000, down from 287,000 in 2014.
The government has failed to make progress towards its goal of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands, which critics blame on its inability to regulate numbers from across Europe. The rise in the net figure was the result of fall in the numbers of people emigrating.
But Vote Leave figurehead Boris Johnson said it was clear "we are adding a population the size of Oxford to the UK every year just from EU migration".
He accused David Cameron of having "given away control of immigration and asylum forever" - and urged people to "face the fact that the system has spun out of control".
"If you vote In on 23 June, you are kissing goodbye permanently to control of immigration," he said. "You are voting for the current situation not only to continue but to get worse.
"The only way to take back control of immigration is to Vote Leave on 23 June. The public should be able to vote for those who make the laws of this country including on immigration. It is intolerable to continue without democratic consent for Britain's immigration policy."
How to follow the BBC debateHow to follow the BBC debate
The left-leaning IPPR think tank said Thursday's figures would "pose challenges" for both sides in the referendum debate. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the numbers show "mass immigration is still hopelessly out of control and set to get worse if we Remain inside the EU, going on with disastrous open borders".
"We expect the Leave campaign to use this as further evidence that leaving the EU is the only way of bringing down historically high migration," said its associate director Phoebe Griffith.
"Yet there is no denying two realities - first that migration from Europe is running at historically high levels, and second that certain sectors in our economy have become heavily reliant on a temporary workforce from the EU."
There are about two million citizens of other EU countries currently working in the UK, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.There are about two million citizens of other EU countries currently working in the UK, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.
Details of short-term migration, looking at people who moved in or out of the UK for up to a year in 2014, will also be published on Thursday, as will the latest figures for visas granted by the Home Office and new National Insurance numbers registered.
Figures published by the ONS earlier this month showed 1.2 million more EU migrants have got National Insurance numbers in the past five years than have shown up in the official immigration statistics - a discrepancy seized upon by critics of current immigration policy.Figures published by the ONS earlier this month showed 1.2 million more EU migrants have got National Insurance numbers in the past five years than have shown up in the official immigration statistics - a discrepancy seized upon by critics of current immigration policy.
Speaking on Wednesday, Conservative MP and former shadow home secretary David Davis said EU migration had absorbed a million of the 2.5 million jobs created in the UK in the last five years. In a speech later - his first of the referendum campaign - former Labour Home Secretary Lord Blunkett will defend the last Labour government's controversial record on immigration and criticise those who he says want to create a "fortress Britain".
"Britain, not the EU, is the job creation machine," he said.
"The EU is in fact a job transfer machine - switching employment from British workers to those from the continent."
But in a speech later - his first of the referendum campaign - former Labour Home Secretary Lord Blunkett will defend the last Labour government's controversial record on immigration and criticise those who he says want to create a "fortress Britain".