Amber Rudd and Boris Johnson signal Tories' migration target has been scrapped

A target to reduce net migration to below 100,000 has been abandoned by the new Government, two Cabinet ministers have signalled.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, and Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, suggested that Theresa May’s new administration will no longer set explicit targets for reducing the number of foreigners coming to the UK.

Ms Rudd said it was now the Government’s “aim” to reduce net migration to “sustainable levels”.

Mr Johnson said that it was “entirely right to be careful about committing to numbers because one doesn't want to be in a position where you are disappointing people again”.

In a sign of confusion over the issue, Mrs May’s official spokeswoman said that “the Prime Minister does see sustainable levels as down to the tens of thousands” but refused to commit to a target.

Downing Street sources said that Britain quitting the EU would mean “taking back control of our borders and addressing the issue of free movement”.

Conservative MPs and immigration campaigners last night warned the Government against “abandoning” the commitment -  which was in the last Tory manifesto - to bring net migration to below 100,000.

Mrs May on Wednesday uses her first foreign trip as Prime Minister to visit Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.

Mrs May will tell Mrs Merkel  that she wants to send a “clear message about the importance” of Britain’s relationship with Germany “not just now but also when we have left the European Union”.

The target to reduce net migration to the “tens of thousands” dogged David Cameron’s time in office as the number of foreigners moving to the UK spiralled during his six years as Prime Minister.

Ahead of last year’s general election, the “target” was downgraded to an “ambition”, in a move that was criticised by Tory backbenchers.

The issue of net migration was the centrepiece of the campaign to leave the EU. Net migration soared to 335,000 last year.

Speaking during her first appearance since being promoted to Home Secretary, Ms Rudd said: “What the Prime Minister has said is that we must bring migration down to sustainable levels so that's what is going to be my aim at the moment."

Pressed on whether the net migration target had changed, Ms Rudd said: "I'm going to stick to my comment which is about bringing it down to sustainable levels. That has to be the most important thing for the country."

Later at a press conference alongside John Kerry, the US secretary of state, Mr Johnson said that Ms Rudd was “entirely right to be careful about committing to numbers because one doesn't want to be in a position where you are disappointing people again”.

He said: "What is certainly possible, post leaving the EU - and once we end our obligations under uncontrolled free movement - it will be possible to have a system of control.

"This is what we were talking about in the referendum campaign. You can't do that immediately, clearly, because we are still in the EU and subject to uncontrolled free movement."

Mrs May’s spokeswoman said: “In the Prime Minister's view sustainable levels does mean the tens of thousands but we should also recognize the work that will be needed to do that and to get us down to sustainable levels.”

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of MigrationWatch, which campaigns for tougher border controls, said: “The history of recent years proves that a target is invaluable to achieve the policy focus which the public most certainly most want to see.

“To abandon it, if that is what is suggested, would be a very serious mistake.”

Peter Bone, the MP for Wellingborough, said: “Obviously it’s a manifesto commitment so we are bound to implement the government’s policy on that.

“The country’s voted to come out of the EU and the biggest single issue in that was ending freedom of movement to bring the numbers down for those coming here.

“I’m sure the new Home Secretary will want to support government policy as I do.”

He added: “It is a non-starter. It would fly in the face of what the referendum was about. It would be absurd if we broke our pledge on that. It wouldn’t happen and can’t happen."

Another Conservative MP said: “If we’re abandoning manifesto pledges made only a year ago it’s going to heighten calls for general election to seek a new mandate.”

Meanwhile, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, suggested on Tuesday that the UK is likely to still join EU military missions targeting migrant smugglers or pirates even after Brexit.

The UK would still have an interest in the success of EU missions in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Balkans once it had left the bloc, and could still participate, Mr Fallon indicated.

British warships and troops have played crucial roles in recent EU missions to tackle the migrant crisis in the Med and to fend off piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Mr Fallon said: “I don’t see the British interest in these missions diminishing.”

Source: telegraph