The home secretary said she would aspire to cut the overall migration figure from the current level of 239,000 amid a growing clamour from party activists for the government to take control of immigration levels.
She was also forced to admit that the Conservative plan to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda will not happen "for a long time".
In an appearance at a Conservative party conference fringe meeting, she said her "ultimate aspiration" is to get net migration down into the tens of thousands, but refused to set an exact target for the next election.
"In the 90s it was in the tens of thousands under Mrs. Thatcher net migration and David Cameron famously said tens of thousands, no ifs no buts," she said.
This story is from the October 05, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 05, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Ukraine prepared to hammer home message of defiance
Qualification for Euro 2024 gives the players achance to show the world how their country will keep on fighting
Lionesses trailblazer Houghton to retire with 'football in better place'
Tributes flood in for retiring former England captain who set new standard for players
Africa's tennis talents embark on 'marathon' journey to elite success
After Angella Okutoyi’s gold at the African Games, there is hope the sport can break new ground on the continent
Sunrisers win record IPL tussle while England women triumph
Records tumbled in Sunrisers Hyderabad's Indian Premier League win against Mumbai Indians, which set a record for the highest-scoring T20 match in history.
'Old-fashioned embezzlement' Where did all FTX's money go under Bankman-Fried?
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency FTX, presided exchange over a spectacular collapse that cost his customers billions of dollars.
Brexit import facility 'raises risk of unfit food products entering UK'
An inland facility set up to carry out checks on nearly all EU meat and dairy imports coming through Dover will be unable to cope when postBrexit rules come in next month, the port's health authority has warned.
Fashion chains say they will cooperate with greenwashing crackdown
Asda, Asos and Boohoo have undertaken to avoid making misleading claims about the green credentials of their clothes, after a regulatory crackdown on \"greenwashing\" in the fashion sector.
Information security chief at Sellafield nuclear site to quit
A former Royal Air Force officer who has led Sellafield's information security for more than a decade is to leave the vast nuclear waste site in northwest England, it can be revealed.
'Pushed to the limit' Tiny Greek island sees big rise in migrant boats
Even by the standards of small Greek islands, Gavdos is tiny. In a population of fewer than 70 people, there are just two families, with four children. The rest \"are all old people mostly living alone\", its mayor, Lilian Stefanaki, explained.
Rare show of Romanian sculptor Brancusi’s work opens in Paris
A rare retrospective of Constantin Brâncuşi, who revolutionised sculpture in the early 20th century but whose works can be extremely tricky to transport, opened in Paris yesterday.