London - Britain would be a “better, stronger country” if the number of immigrants were slashed, David Cameron said on Tuesday.
The prime minister insisted he did not regret his target to cut net migration to the “tens of thousands” a year, despite latest figures showing it hitting 260 000.
Cameron, who remains under pressure from UKIP on the issue, admitted his pledge would not be met by the time of May’s election, but refused to abandon it.
“We’ve made some progress but not as much as I’d like,” he told BBC Radio 2. “In terms of immigration from outside the EU, it’s now down at its lowest level for many years because we have put a cap on the number of economic migrants that can come from outside the European Union to Britain.
“But inside the European Union migration has gone up, partly because we are creating more jobs than the rest of Europe put together, and that’s why I put the toughest possible welfare reforms for foreign migrants coming to Britain. It was a commitment I made which I want to keep.”
Before the last election, Cameron pledged “no ifs, no buts” to reduce net migration to the “tens off thousands” during this parliament.
Asked if he regretted setting the target, the prime minister insisted: “No. I believe that we would be a better, stronger country if we had net migration in the tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands.
“The figures are very clear - I have not achieved that. I want to keep going until we do achieve that. I think it’s the right thing for our country.”
Cameron faced criticism when he launched the six “key themes” of the Conservative election manifesto earlier this month, and immigration was conspicuous by its absence. The six key themes are the deficit, jobs, taxes, education, housing and retirement.
He later insisted measures to control immigration would feature heavily in his party’s pledges on jobs and housing.
The prime minister proposed curbs on tax credits, child benefit, jobseeker’s allowance, housing benefit and council housing for incomers from the EU.
The payment of out-of-work benefits will be stopped altogether, he says, while tax credits, which top up wages for the low paid and are seen as the major “pull factor” for immigrants from the Continent, will only be paid to people here and paying in for four years or more.
But some Eurosceptics were dismayed that Cameron omitted any mention of an even more ambitious plan for an annual quota or an “emergency brake” on EU migrants.
Daily Mail