Rishi Sunak facing a major backlash from right-wing Tory MPs as net migration to the UK soared to a record high.
Official figures showed migration in 2022 is estimated to have hit 745,000, a huge revision upward from an earlier estimate of 606,000.
And the Office for National Statistics revealed that in the year to June, a total of 1.2million people arrived to live in the UK, leaving overall net migration at 672,000.
The figures mean the population of England and Wales is now growing at the fastest rate since 1962.
The prime minister is under pressure to deliver on a 2019 manifesto pledge to bring the number of people migrating to Britain down.
And the New Conservatives group of 35 right-wing Tory MPs said Thursday’s figures were “existential” for the party.
“At the last election, every Conservative MP was elected on a solemn promise to reduce net migration, which in 2019 stood at 229,000 per year,” the group said in a statement.
It called for a “comprehensive package” of measures to bring migration below the 229,000 mark before the next election.
And the New Conservatives said: “The Prime Minister, Chancellor, and new Home Secretary must show that they stand by the promises on which we were elected to Parliament. We must act now.
“The word ‘existential’ has been used a lot in recent days but this really is ‘do or die’ for our party. Each of us made a promise to the electorate.. We don’t believe that such promises can be ignored.”
In May, the ONS estimated that net migration stood at 606,000, a figure Mr Sunak described as “too high”, adding: “I want to bring them down.”
However, in a bombshell revelation, the Office for National Statistics has now revised its estimate for 2022’s net migration figure to 745,000, meaning Thursday’s figure represents a slight dip.
But Thursday’s net migration figure is more than three times the level when the 2019 Conservative manifesto pledged to ensure “overall numbers come down”.
The latest increase will infuriate Tory MPs on the right of the party who have called on the prime minister to crack down on the number of people coming to Britain to live and work.
The ONS figures showed almost all of the net migration to the UK was driven by non-EU citizens. The increase was mainly due to migrants coming for work, predomenantly those coming on health and care visas.
People arriving via humanitarian routes such as Ukrainian refugees and Hong Kong citizens decreased from 19 per to 9 per cent of the total over the same period.
Home secretarty James Cleverly, who replaced Suella Braverman last week, brushed off the surge in migration. He said: “This figure is not showing a significant increase from last year’s figures and is largely in line with our own immigration statistics.”
“The Government remains completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration while at the same time focusing relentlessly on our priority of stopping the boats,” Mr Cleverly added.
Thursday’s figures show a total of 40,386 people crossed the channel in small boats in the 12 months to June.
And as well as concerns over the net migration figure, Mr Sunak is under intense pressure to deliver on his “stop the boats” pledge.
The PM’s plans faced a major setback when the Supreme Court ruled a scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful.
He is now pinning his hopes on a new treaty with the African country which he hopes will address judges’ concerns. Mr Sunak is also planning to pass legislation ruling Rwanda a “safe” country to get the deportation scheme up and running.
Pressure to “stop the boats” will also mount after a man and a woman drowned on Wednesday when a small boat trying to cross the Channel to the UK capsized just after leaving the French coast.
One person was airlifted to safety while at least 57 others were rescued by boat and taken to the French town of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Several of those rescued were suffering from hypothermia, the authorities said.
The boat reportedly got into difficulty in French waters shortly after 1pm (local time) and drowned.
The last Channel deaths were reported on 12 August when six Afghans drowned after their boat capsized. That was the worst small boat accident since 24 November 2021, when at least 27 people died in an overloaded boat.
More than 27,200 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, against a record 45,000 in 2022, according to British authorities.