Ed Conway’s explainer on the impact of Brexit on immigration has been doing the rounds on social media after the latest figures were released.
Sir Keir Starmer has blamed the former Tory government of running a “one-nation experiment in open borders” after it was revealed a total of 1.2 million people arrived in the UK in the year up to June 2024.
The latest ONS figures show net migration – the above figure, minus those who left the UK – stands at 728,000 for the year up to June 2024.
The revised figures mark a new record-high in net migration.
An increasingly high proportion of those arriving are non-EU nationals, who outnumber EU immigrants around seven times over.
Since Britain left the EU, immigration to the UK has rocketed and has not come close to pre-Brexit levels.
Free movement ended in January 2021 and Brexit immigration rules came into force. Since June 2021, at least 3.6 million immigrants have entered the UK.
Conway conducted the same analysis in November 2023, pointing out how immigration started to rise after the UK left the EU.
Responding to the clip on X, Gavin Esler said: “Any politician who campaigned for Brexit cannot now legitimately complain about the increase in migration. They are directly responsible for it.”
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