Nigel Farage says the UK should aim for ‘zero’ net migration
Nigel Farage has made no secret of his intention to put immigration at the heart of his campaign.
“Net migration at zero would be the target,” he told Mishal Husain on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, acknowledging this figure depends how many people are leaving the country each year (500,000 people left last year; net migration is about 600,000).
Farage was asked if people eligible for skilled workers visas, including paramedics and primary school teachers, could continue to come in. He said they could but in limited numbers.
The Reform UK party leader said:
We cannot go on as we are. We have to limit numbers. Our quality of life in this country is and if that means in some sectors there’d be shortages – what that then means is that wages woud then go up and we would start to encourage people to learn skills, rather than heading off to university and doing social sciences.
“We cannot go on as we are, we have to limit numbers.”
Reform UK’s new leader Nigel Farage tells @MishalHusain ‘net migration at zero would be the target’ for the party.
#R4Today— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) June 4, 2024
Key events
James Cleverly also told Sky News that he was surprised at the decision by Nigel Farage to stand in Clacton.
“The last time I heard him make reference to Clacton, he was saying that he didn’t want to spend every Friday in Clacton,” he said.
“Reform has always been a vehicle for Nigel Farage’s self-promotion, I think Richard Tice is now discovering that rather painfully.”
He added that Keir Starmer would very much like people to vote for Reform because it “opens the door” to a Labour government.
Farage had been expected to choose to run either in Clacton or in Thanet East in Kent, which includes much of the old constituency where he made two failed bids to become an MP in 2015 and 2005.
But Clacton would now appear to be a better bet for Reform UK, even though the Tory candidate Giles Watling, who backed remain, is defending a majority of 24,702.
A poll that was published minutes after Farage announced his candidacy, and so was conducted some time before, indicated that Reform UK were not on course to win any seats, as things stood.
James Cleverly has also been speaking to Sky News. The home secretary acknowledged he would prefer Tory poll ratings to be better than they are.
Shortly after Nigel Farage’s announcement yesterday, a YouGov survey showed Keir Starmer heading to No10 with Labour set to get a huge majority of 194, more than Tony Blair’s 179 in 1997.
The Tories would be crushed, losing 232 seats and dropping to just 140, according to YouGov’s projection.
Cleverly told Sky News the only poll that mattered was election day, but added: “If you are asking ‘would I prefer going into the last few weeks of this election campaign with the polls in our favour?’, of course I would prefer that.”
The home secretary claimed that people were “completely unconvinced by Labour” and Keir Starmer.
“At these turbulent times, handing control of the country to a man who doesn’t even really seem to be in control of his own shadow cabinet is probably not a good idea,” he said.
The home secretary, James Cleverly, has been asked about the Conservative’s commitment to capping the number of visas.
Asked on BBC Breakfast why they are not putting a number on the annual cap in visas, he said:
Well, we know that immigration, legal migration, has been too high over the last couple of years.
We’ve taken measures already which, as your report said, has now started to bring those figures down, measures that were opposed at the time by the Labour party.
But we also recognise, as your report said, there are benefits to migration. My mother came here as a migrant, as did many other people in the UK who have contributed enormously to our society and to our economy.
But migration – just as with every other public policy – comes at a cost and balancing the benefits and cost is what our new policy is going to do.
So, for the first time, we’re going to get the Migration Advisory Committee to crunch the numbers to look at both the benefit and the costs of migration levels. The Government will then set a cap on the number of visas it will issue in that year, something that will then be voted on by parliament.
This will make sure we properly balance both the numbers of people coming here and the benefit they bring, but also the cost, whether it’s school places, housing demand, health places, etc.
Last month, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that overall migration into the UK for 2022 was 606,000, which represented a 24% increase on the previous high of 488,000 last year.
Rishi Sunak was forced to concede this figure was too high as he was accused by right wing MPs of abandoning control of UK borders after net migration and the backlog of asylum claims reached record highs.
Opening summary
Good morning, and welcome to our continued coverage of the 2024 general election campaign.
Rishi Sunak is poised to propose an annual visa cap to try to reduce immigration ahead of his debate with Keir Starmer, the Labour party leader, on ITV tonight.
The Conservatives will propose an annual cap on worker and family visas in their efforts to try to reduce immigration year on year in a future parliament.
The proposed plan would give parliament a direct role in setting levels of migration, with MPs having a vote on the number.
The already under pressure prime minister, who, according to most polls, is on course to lose the 4 July general election many are now saying he called prematurely, is focusing on immigration as this is an area the Conservatives feel particularly vulnerable to Reform on.
On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Farage said the UK should aim for “zero” net migration – the difference between numbers of people arriving and leaving. We will have more for you on this shortly.
Suank’s campaign suffered a damaging blow yesterday after Farage, the former Ukip and Brexit party leader, called a surprise press conference in London to announce he intended to stand as an MP in Clacton, Essex and lead the Reform party for the next five years. Farage had previously said he would not stand in July’s general election.
In a further blow to Sunak, YouGov’s first MRP constituency projection, before Farage’s announcement, showed Keir Starmer could win a 194 majority, bigger even than Tony Blair’s 179 majority in 1997.
It put Labour on 422 seats (+222 from the 2019 election, based on new constituency boundaries), the Tories on 140 (-232), the Lib Dems on 48 (+40) and the SNP on 17 (-31). One senior Tory described Farage’s return as an “existential” risk.
Farage has suggested his long-term aim was to effectively take over the Conservative party, which has been in damage limitation mode since the announcement.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday that he could not stand for or seek to lead the Conservative party “as they currently are”.
But he added:
You can speculate as to what’ll happen in three or four years’ time, all I will tell you is if Reform succeed in the way that I think they can, then a chunk of the Conservative party will join us – it’s the other way around.
Here is a list of what is on today’s agenda:
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Keir Starmer is to make energy policy announcement (around 9am) on campaign visit to North West
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Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, is expected to meet to endorse the party’s candidates for the general election.
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James Cleverley and Nigel Farage are answering broadcast questions on the morning rounds.
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Nigel Farage to launch general election campaign in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.
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Lib Dem leader Ed Davey campaign visits to Cheadle this morning and North Shropshire this afternoon.
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Rachel Reeves and Anas Sarwar will hold a Q&A in Edinburgh with staff working in financial services.
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Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer in ITV general election debate at 9pm. The debate will be followed at 2210 by interviews with leaders of other parties with the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Reform UK and the Greens invited.
It is Yohannes Lowe here for the next couple of hours. If you want to get my attention then please do email me on [email protected].
