BRITAIN’S migrant population will rise by 315,000 a year, experts warned last night.
The claim comes despite nearly ten million people remaining out of work — many owing to stealth taxes and ill health.
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In yesterday’s Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was “morally and economically wrong” to hire foreign labour while Britons stay at home.
But Tory pledges to fix the problem took a battering as long-term net migration forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility were revised up from 240,000 to 315,000 for every year from 2028.
Last year the figure was 672,000.
The new forecast would mean enough people arriving each year to fill a city the size of Doncaster.
Mr Hunt yesterday said there were about 900,000 job vacancies and told those on benefits: “Those who can work should.”
He highlighted back-to-work measures such as the expansion of free childcare.
But the OBR warned freezes to tax thresholds — which act as a stealth tax and drag people into paying higher rates — would stop a third of those who would seek work from doing so.
Keeping tax thresholds frozen rather than raising them in line with inflation is set to snare 2.7million more workers into the higher rate of tax by 2028-9, as wages rise.
In all, 9.3million people of working age are out of jobs, with a third citing long-term sickness such as mental health.
That is 700,000 more than before the pandemic and the highest level for over a decade.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said yesterday: “I’m very pleased the OBR seems to have shifted away from its orthodox view, having been traditionally that more people coming into the country, largely on low wages, is necessarily a net benefit for the economy.”
Alp Mehmet, from Migration Watch said more arrivals “will mean massive added pressure on services and housing”.
He added: “Neither party is being honest about the scale of immigration and its damaging impact on our economy and society.”
Former PM David Cameron famously promised to reduce net migration below 100,000.
Boris Johnson pledged to get it below 245,000.
