The stakes continue to rise as both sides are grabbing to garner support for the UK’s upcoming EU Referendum on Thursday, 23 June.
In what some ‘Brexit’ campaigners may see as a an addition to their arguments, the Office for National Statistics released its quarterly report on migration Thursday. The report showed that the net number of migrants in the UK rose to 330,000 in 2015, up 20,000 from the year ending December 2014.
The net migrant number is calculated as the difference between immigration and emigration, the ONS says, or in other words, the difference between those entering the country for more than a year and those leaving it.
Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London-turned-prominent Vote Leave supporter said voting In will be “kissing goodbye permanently to control of immigration.”
“The only way to take back control of immigration is to Vote Leave on 23 June. The public should be able to vote for those who make the laws of this country including on immigration. It is intolerable to continue without democratic consent for Britain’s immigration policy.”
The ONS reported the estimated net migration among EU citizens was 184,000, the net migration for non-EU citizens was 188,000 and the net migration of British citizens was estimated to be -39,000, which means more British people left the UK than came to it.
The report also found that in 2014, 13% (about 8.3 million) of the UK’s resident population was born outside the UK, which has risen from the 9% recorded in 2004.
Glen Watson, Deputy National Statistician for Population and Public Policy, said the ONS is “confident the International Passenger Survey remains the best available way of measuring long-term migration to the UK.”
