Nigel Farage gives verdict on 'shock' new figures as he warns of 'great immigration lie'

Nigel Farage has warned of a “great immigration lie” after net migration hit a new record.

Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics show net migration to the UK is estimated to have reached a record 606,000 in 2022.

Former Ukip leader Mr Farage described the numbers as a “shock”.

The Brexit architect claimed both the Conservatives and Labour tell voters at general elections “what they want us to hear” on slashing migration but “never actually really mean it”.

Speaking on his GB News show tonight, Mr Farage said: “Yes, of course the No 10 spinners were briefing it could be as high as one million so that when it comes in at just over 600,000 we’re supposed to say it’s not too bad is it?

Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage

“Remind ourselves that from Windrush at the end of the 1940s to the end of the century, net migration was normally about 30,000 a year.

“It span out of control under Tony Blair and Labour. But then we had David Cameron in 2010 promising us net migration of tens of thousands a year.

“He promised the same in 2015, Theresa May said she’d cut the numbers in 2017, and Boris Johnson in 2019 talked about an Australian-style points system which we all took to mean it would be very tough to get in and the whole idea was to control immigration.

“Well with these numbers today, since the Conservatives took power, net migration into Britain is over 3.5 million.

“Our population has risen by eight million since 2001 and 85 percent of that is directly down to immigration.”

Mr Farage warned of a “great immigration lie” by the Conservatives and Labour.

He said: “Nobody is not saying that vast numbers of people whe have come have been great people and actually wanted to work, unlike the four million British people who are being paid unemployment benefits and don’t seem to want to work.

“But we cannot sustain a population rising as rapidly as this, it simply doesn’t work.

“I don’t even believe there’s now an economic benefit to this either.

“So, I think what we’re seeing frankly from the Tories and Labour is a great immigration lie.

“They tell us at elections what they want us to hear but they never actually really mean it.”

Rishi Sunak has faced a Tory backlash over the record official estimates on net migration.

The Prime Minister said the number was “too high” but insisted he had not lost control of the immigration system.

The figures for 2022 were driven by people from non-EU countries arriving for work, study and humanitarian reasons.

The estimates include people who have come to the UK from Ukraine and Hong Kong under resettlement schemes.

The total, which is the difference between the number of people moving to the UK and the number leaving, is up from 488,000 in 2021.