People, eh? There’s no pleasing some of them. Not even if they demand lower net migration figures and get them just a few years after the numbers shot up under their watch. On Thursday, Robert Jenrick threw a stone from his glass house, and was subsequently pulled up for it.
Net migration plummets – but Robert Jenrick still isn’t happy
As per the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, net migration fell by 48% to 171,100 in 2025. This is comparable with pre-Covid levels of migration, and outside of the pandemic, these are the lowest recorded figures since 2012.
The data has also shown that the number of people claiming asylum in the UK in the year to March fell by 12%, while the number of asylum seekers in hotels is down by a third. However, the anti-immigration crowd aren’t quite jumping for joy – with Jenrick joining the choir of dissenters.
“These numbers show that 246,000 Brits left the UK last year. The net figure shows 136,000 went. A city the size of Watford. Many are entrepreneurs, investors, small businesspeople. It’s the Starmer Exodus. A Reform government will Bring Brits Back.” | Robert Jenrick
Number of Brits leaving UK flagged by Robert Jenrick
Mr. Jenrick believes that the number of Brits leaving the UK – 246,000 in the last year – is too high. He branded it as a ‘Starmer Exodus’, and vowed to Bring Brits back to Blighty under a Reform government. However, his own record on this subject is up for debate.
Figures from the ONS show that net migration actually reached a record high at 944,000 in the year to March 2023, which is more than 80% higher than the numbers posted today. You’ll never guess who the Immigration Minister was at the time…
And, according to data from the Home Office, the use of these asylum hotels peaked in September 2023, with 56,000 migrants being housed during that particular month. Again, you’ll never guess who the Immigration Minister was at *that* time…
ALSO READ: Robert Jenrick joins migrant hotel protest – and gets reminded of his role in opening them
Ex-Immigration Minister given a rough ride over his tenure
After joining a protest against asylum hotels in August 2025, footage of Robert Jenrick speaking to Sky News three years previously came back to bite him on the backside. He was quoted as saying that he personally ‘procured even more migrant hotels’ than any of his predecessors.
What the senior Tory saw as an appropriate boast at the time has since been used as a stick to beat him with. Even Nigel Farage labelled him a ‘fraud’ – just a few months before welcoming his defection from the Conservative Party to join Reform. Funny that.
Whereas Farage has found a way to turn the other cheek, critics have been much less sympathetic towards Jenrick’s record as Immigration Minister – many of whom have queued up to take a swipe at his track record and accuse the right-wing politician of ‘double-speak’.