Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Several of Friday’s front pages lead on the new figures showing that net migration to the UK stood at 606,000 and hit a record high in 2022.
Migration figures
“No control, no compassion,” that’s the Daily Mirror’s take on the government’s approach to immigration. The paper quotes one opposition MP who says ministers have created a “climate of intolerance amid utter incompetence.”
The i says the new figures mean Britain is set to overtake France to become Europe’s second-most populace country for the first time. The paper quotes an economist saying issues like housing shortages mean a “rising population is a problem”, but adding that it is “not as big a problem as a falling population”.
The Metro leads with comments from the immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who criticised universities for the number of places being offered to foreign students. The paper reports that almost 40% of non-EU nationals who arrived in the UK last year were students.
The Prime Minister has sent a message to Daily Express readers, promising the government will cut the number of people moving to the UK.
The Daily Telegraph cartoonist Matt has drawn two people in the Home Office saying: “We have a plan to slow down immigration. We’re going to ask Border Staff to go on strike again.”
Suella Braverman’s plan to deport 3,000 migrants a month leads the Guardian. The leaked documents show the deportations could start in January under the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill, which is making its way through Parliament.
