UK migration forecast to hit 245,000 despite Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut arrivals

Revised figures up 110,000 on last year as post-Brexit Britain proves more attractive than feared

Net migration to Britain is predicted to rise to 245,000 people a year over the next few years, eclipsing earlier projections, in a blow to the government’s pledge to keep the number of arrivals down.

The latest figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), announced on Wednesday, were up from 129,000 last March, and 40,000 above last November’s forecast, following a spike in the number of arrivals to the UK.

Despite the upward revision, Downing Street said it was committed to cutting net migration, and pointed to OBR analysis that found the figures to have been driven in part by the short-term increase in arrivals from Hong Kong and Ukraine.