Theresa May says she still aims to reduce immigration to under 100,000

'We believe sustainable numbers are the tens of thousands,' says Prime Minister

The Prime Minister made the remarks on a visit to a factory in Enfield (Reuters)

Theresa May has restated her commitment to reducing net migration to below 100,000.

Speaking in Enfield during a campaign visit to a factory, the prime minister said she would not abandon the target.

“We’ve been very clear, as I was as home secretary for six years, that it’s important that we have net migration that is in sustainable numbers. We believe sustainable numbers are the tens of thousands,” she told Sky News.

“Leaving the European Union enables us to control our borders in relation to people coming from the EU as well as those who are coming from outside the EU."

The Independent is campaigning for the target to be dropped, with a steep reduction in immigration numbers posing a severe risk to the country's economy.

Ms May also criticised Labour over Jeremy Corbyn's refusal to rule out a second referendum on the terms of Brexit, as he avoided a question on the subject after his speech on Thursday morning.

But the leader later released a statement saying a second referendum was not Labour policy and would not feature in its manifesto.

Ms May said: “What we saw from Jeremy Corbyn this morning was his refusal to rule out the possibility of a second referendum over Brexit. That’s wrong.

"People voted in the referendum last year to leave the European Union. That is what the government needs to put into place. And his failure to rule that second referendum out shows the coalition of chaos that we would have under Jeremy Corbyn."