Immigration: how 14 years of Tory rule have changed Britain

Net migration is more than two and a half times the 2010 figure despite a string of Tory pledges to reduce it

Immigration was already a talking point of the UK election campaign, but last week Nigel Farage entered stage right and declared it the “immigration election”. Within 24 hours the Conservatives had pledged to reduce the number of migrant visas issued each year if they are they re-elected.

It was the latest in a long string of related Tory pledges, from the aims of David Cameron and Theresa May to limit net migration to “tens of thousands” to Boris Johnson’s promise that “overall numbers will come down” and Rishi Sunak’s commitment to “stop the boats”.