The government has made a shibboleth of cutting down the numbers of people coming into the UK. As far back as 2010 the then Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to reduce net migration below 100,000 but that target has never been met - not even during the pandemic. Recently updated figures from the Office of National Statistics showed that last year net migration reached a record 745,000. The gap between rhetoric and reality could hardly be more stark.

Now Home Secretary James Cleverley has declared that "enough is enough" and introduced a Five Point Plan to reduce net migration by 300,000. But will it work? Or do we need to rethink how we respond to new arrivals who want to make their home in the UK?

Adrian Goldberg hears from Zoe Gardener an independent reseracher and campaigner on migrant rights. 

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.

 

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Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

     

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