Rishi Sunak says immigration is ‘too high’ but says he won’t ‘put a number’ on plan to cut it

But prime minister suggests he wants to cut migration to below the 500,000 level he inherited

Rishi Sunak: ‘The numbers are too high and we want to bring them down’ (PA Wire)

Rishi Sunak believes immigration into the UK is “too high” and has said he wants to bring it down to below the level he “inherited”.

The prime minister insisted he would not “put a number” on it but suggested he may cut immigration to below the level it had reached when he entered No 10 – around 500,000 net arrivals a year.

But Downing Street dismissed speculation the half-a-million figure would be set in stone and said the PM was not committed to a specific target. Mr Sunak also declined to commit to cutting numbers by the general election, which is expected next year.