Keir Starmer press conference RECAP: Prime Minister brands record net migration figures a 'different order of failure' as he vows to drive down numbers arriving in UK

Analysis: Starmer has to prove he has plan as immigration battle erupts

epa11745586 Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds a press conference on migration in Downing Street in London, Britain, 28 November 2024. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated net migration to the UK was 728,000 in the 12 months to June 2024, down 20 percent from a revised figure of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.  EPA/TOLGA AKMEN / POOL

The Conservative and Labour parties have been gearing up for a fierce debate over immigration statistics for several weeks.

However, when the Office for National Statistics released its latest figures today, they caught everyone off guard.

A decline in immigration numbers was largely anticipated, with Kemi Badenoch even predicting yesterday that the Conservative restrictions on student visas and family reunification would lead to such a result.

In a surprising turn, the statistics authority not only dismissed previous estimates but revealed a staggering new peak of 906,000 migrants in the year leading up to June 2023.

Seizing the moment, Keir Starmer and his closest team quickly identified a chance to attribute the migration issue to their political opponents while strategizing from the confines of No. 10 Downing Street.

In a swiftly organized press conference this afternoon, the Prime Minister took the stage, portraying himself as the solution to the challenges created by a succession of Conservative leaders.

Significantly he also brought up Brexit, saying it had been subverted by previous government loosening border rules outside the EU.

It is a tactic Labour has also tried over the country’s finances, lashing out at a ‘black hole’ in the books.

But the issue for Sir Keir is that he is now the one in charge, and he has yet to spell out a clear plan. Voters are unlikely to be in a forgiving mood come the next election if he fails to keep his solemn pledge to get legal immigration ‘under control’.

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