'Five million more in UK by 2032... It can and must be stopped from materialising'

MIGRATION will lead to another five million people living in the UK in the next seven years, shocking forecasts revealed yesterday.

- Michael Knowles

The population will surge to 72.5 million up from 67.6 million by 2032, heaping more pressure on the NHS, housing, roads and schools.

Critics branded the crisis "the biggest issue that faces our country", adding that the "shocking and unacceptable" projection by the Office for National Statistics "must be stopped from materialising".

Almost 10 million people are predicted to move to the UK between 2022 and 2032, with five million expected to leave in the same period.

Betrayal

But Downing Street last night rejected calls for an "arbitrary cap" on migrants coming to Britain.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "This projection is shocking and unacceptable. It can and must be stopped from materialising.

"Ten million arrivals over 10 years is far too high.

"We need a binding legal cap on visas issued each year which is very, very substantially lower than this in order to get the numbers down and under control. We must also get more of the nine million economically inactive [British] adults into the workforce and invest more in technology and mechanisation to end the unsustainable reliance on mass low-skilled migration."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "This is the biggest issue that faces our country.

"Why is it the most important issue? Even if we build the 1.5 million homes that Labour say they'll build, that won't even be enough to cope with the next four years, let alone the backlog we have.