Net migration to Britain at all-time high

NET migration to Britain is at an all time high, with the difference between people leaving and entering the country estimated at 330,000.

Migrants are helped off a boat in Greece. Picture: Getty

This is 10,000 above the highest figure on record, which was 320,000 for the year ending June 2005, and an increase of more than a third compared to the same period last year.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said the new figures are “deeply disappointing”.

It is the fifth consecutive quarterly rise in the index - raising new questions about the Tories’ aim to bring the number below 100,000.

The increase was driven by a record 269,000 EU citizens arriving in Britain.

Statistics also showed, as expected, that Britain’s foreign-born population has surpassed eight million for the first time.