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| EU referendum: Gove and Johnson challenge PM on immigration | EU referendum: Gove and Johnson challenge PM on immigration |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| David Cameron must accept the failure of the government's manifesto pledge to reduce migration into the UK, two leading Vote Leave MPs have said. | David Cameron must accept the failure of the government's manifesto pledge to reduce migration into the UK, two leading Vote Leave MPs have said. |
| Michael Gove and Boris Johnson said the pledge was "corrosive of public trust" while Britain remained in the EU. | Michael Gove and Boris Johnson said the pledge was "corrosive of public trust" while Britain remained in the EU. |
| But Number 10 said their claim was an "attempt to distract" from the fact that a Brexit would be "disastrous". | But Number 10 said their claim was an "attempt to distract" from the fact that a Brexit would be "disastrous". |
| It comes as a survey suggests that nine in 10 of the UK's top economists say leaving the EU would be damaging. | It comes as a survey suggests that nine in 10 of the UK's top economists say leaving the EU would be damaging. |
| Escalation of Tory division over Europe | Escalation of Tory division over Europe |
| The UK's EU referendum: All you need to know | The UK's EU referendum: All you need to know |
| EU referendum issues guide: Explore the arguments | EU referendum issues guide: Explore the arguments |
| Net migration - the difference between the number of people coming to the UK for at least a year and those leaving - rose to 333,000 in 2015, according to Office for National Statistics estimates. The government is aiming to cut this figure to under 100,000. | |
| The figure for EU-only net migration was 184,000, equalling its record high, and 188,000 for non-EU. | |
| In an open letter to Mr Cameron, published in The Sunday Times, Mr Gove and Mr Johnson said the migration pledge had become unachievable. | In an open letter to Mr Cameron, published in The Sunday Times, Mr Gove and Mr Johnson said the migration pledge had become unachievable. |
| They said: "Voters were promised repeatedly at elections that net migration could be cut to tens of thousands. | They said: "Voters were promised repeatedly at elections that net migration could be cut to tens of thousands. |
| "This promise is plainly not achievable as long as the UK is a member of the EU and the failure to keep it is corrosive of public trust in politics." | "This promise is plainly not achievable as long as the UK is a member of the EU and the failure to keep it is corrosive of public trust in politics." |
| They also said they were "particularly concerned about the impact of free movement in the future on public services". | They also said they were "particularly concerned about the impact of free movement in the future on public services". |
| "Class sizes will raise and waiting lists will lengthen if we don't tackle free movement," they wrote. | "Class sizes will raise and waiting lists will lengthen if we don't tackle free movement," they wrote. |
| Meanwhile, Conservative backbencher and Leave campaigner Andrew Bridgen told 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics that as many as 50 Tory MPs were ready to back a vote of no-confidence in the Prime Minister. | |
| "If there's a small remain vote... I think there probably would be 50 colleagues who'd be very dissatisfied with the prime minister's performance," he said. | "If there's a small remain vote... I think there probably would be 50 colleagues who'd be very dissatisfied with the prime minister's performance," he said. |
| Leave campaigner and former Conservative Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC's Andrew Marr he did not know if that was true but the EU referendum should not be turned into an internal Tory party debate. | |
| He said he was "sure" Mr Cameron wanted restrictions on free movement" and it was "impossible when planning public services to deal with those sort of numbers" of net migrants. | |
| Analysis | Analysis |
| By John Pienaar, deputy political editor | By John Pienaar, deputy political editor |
| The Brexiteers point is that EU open borders make immigration control impossible. | The Brexiteers point is that EU open borders make immigration control impossible. |
| Its effect, though, is to accelerate a descent into internecine warfare which now threatens to make the Conservatives ungovernable if the referendum ends in anything but a decisive victory for the remain campaign. | Its effect, though, is to accelerate a descent into internecine warfare which now threatens to make the Conservatives ungovernable if the referendum ends in anything but a decisive victory for the remain campaign. |
| So bitter has the conflict become, so taut the tension between the rival factions, that angry Eurosceptic Tories talk privately of challenging the prime minister's position even if Britain votes to stay inside the European Union. | So bitter has the conflict become, so taut the tension between the rival factions, that angry Eurosceptic Tories talk privately of challenging the prime minister's position even if Britain votes to stay inside the European Union. |
| Escalation of Tory division | Escalation of Tory division |
| In response to the letter, Number 10 said: "This is a transparent attempt to distract from the fact that the overwhelming majority of economists and businesses believe leaving the single market would be disastrous for jobs, prices and opportunities for people." | In response to the letter, Number 10 said: "This is a transparent attempt to distract from the fact that the overwhelming majority of economists and businesses believe leaving the single market would be disastrous for jobs, prices and opportunities for people." |
| Nine in 10 of the UK's top economists agree that leaving the EU would damage the country's economy, according to a survey published in the Observer. | Nine in 10 of the UK's top economists agree that leaving the EU would damage the country's economy, according to a survey published in the Observer. |
| According to an IPSOS Mori poll of more than 600 economists, 88% of those who replied said leaving the EU single market would damage Britain's growth prospects over the next five years. | According to an IPSOS Mori poll of more than 600 economists, 88% of those who replied said leaving the EU single market would damage Britain's growth prospects over the next five years. |
| Britain Stronger in Europe campaign director Will Straw said: "This is the final nail in the coffin of the Leave campaign's economic credibility. | Britain Stronger in Europe campaign director Will Straw said: "This is the final nail in the coffin of the Leave campaign's economic credibility. |
| "It is becoming clear that leaving is a risk we simply cannot afford to take." | "It is becoming clear that leaving is a risk we simply cannot afford to take." |
| A vote to leave the EU would cause "an immediate shock to our economy", former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair told the BBC. | |
| It would "create years of uncertainty because we will then have to renegotiate all the complicated trading arrangements we have with the rest of Europe, he told Andrew Marr. | |
| "That isn't some hypothetical risk, it is something you will see directly in people's jobs, in people's living standards, in businesses' ability to work with confidence," he said. | |
| "It's an enormous political problem." | |
| And, he said, leaving the EU would not solve migration problems. | |
| "If you actually break down the figures on EU migration, many of these people come in on short term contracts, and then will go back out again. Many of these people work in vital public services. | |
| "And we also get the benefit. The reason we can travel around Europe, without restrictions, is because of the freedom of movement of people." | |
| Elsewhere, former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major criticised the Vote Leave campaign in the Mail on Sunday for the "inaccuracies and falsehoods they are peddling to the British people". | |
| He said the Leave campaign's focus on "raising fears" rather than "setting out facts" on immigration was "distasteful". |