The government should scrap its target of reducing net figures for UK immigration to tens of thousands, a group of MPs has announced.
According to the Home Affairs Committee, a failure to meet the target would “undermine” the trust of the public, suggesting that UK immigration policies should consider Britain’s needs.
Specifically, the Home Affairs Committee stated that the net migration target would not build confidence and failed to reflect the views of the public on how different types of migration should be handled.
MPs also argued that members of the public are more fearful about UK immigration policies due to the lack of official data, which has encouraged much of Britain to favour lower immigration.
As a result of the findings, the report recommends that the UK government should switch to a similar immigration system to Canada, which is run on points to ensure different types of immigration are considered differently.
In response to the report, a Home Office spokesman commented: “We are making it harder than ever before for those with no right to be here to remain in the UK.”
"However, we also believe that more analysis of the scale and nature of the problem of illegal immigration is needed in order to develop appropriate policy responses and reassure the public that the issue is being addressed seriously,” the spokesman added.