Immigration is expected to add a staggering 6.1 million people to the British population by 2035, new projections have shown.
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Britain’s population will grow from an estimated 67 million in 2021 to 73.7 million by mid-2036.
The independent statistics producer suggested the growth will almost entirely be driven by migration.
Rishi Sunak faces growing pressure from the electorate over migration which is likely to be a key issue in the upcoming general election.
Today, former Tory immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, has put forward more than 30 recommendations to curb migration in a Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) report and claimed the Government has “betrayed” the public’s wish for lower immigration.
Jenrick and his co-authors, Tory former minister Neil O’Brien and CPS research director Karl Williams, argue that large-scale migration has failed to deliver significant fiscal benefits while putting pressure on housing, public services and infrastructure.
Jenrick said: “It would be unforgivable if the Government did not use the time before the general election to undo the disastrous post-Brexit liberalisations that betrayed the express wishes of the British public for lower immigration.
“The changes we propose today would finally return numbers to the historical norm and deliver the highly-selective, highly-skilled immigration system voters were promised.
“These policies could be implemented immediately and would consign low-skilled mass migration to the past.
“Immigration is consistently one of the top concerns of voters and they deserve a department whose sole mission is controlling immigration and securing our borders. For far too long, the Home Office has proven incapable of doing that.”
According to official statistics published earlier this year, one in five NHS staff in England are non-UK nationals showing the pivotal role foreign workers play in keeping the health service afloat.
Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of NHS Employers, said the analysis “shows how reliant the NHS has become on its talented international workforce”
He added that that without non-UK national staff the health service “could have very easily buckled under the pressures it has been put under”.
UK Border
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He said: “Teams across the NHS are hugely appreciative to their overseas colleagues for their support and contribution. But there is no room for complacency as we will not be able to continue to draw on international recruitment to fill NHS vacancies for ever.
“If anything, retention is just as important as attracting new staff into the NHS and will be key in the short term to preventing pressures from worsening and ensuring the recruitment base we are looking to build from has solid foundations.
“Expanding the number of staff we train here is also important, so it is vital the continued expansion of training and education, set out in the NHS England long-term workforce plan, is maintained.”
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