MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Data from the UK government's Office for National Statistics (ONS), released on Thursday, confirms that last year's net migration figure of 318,000 people was the highest since 2005, when it stood at 320,000. In contrast, 209,000 more people moved to the United Kingdom than departed it in 2013.
"It has never been clearer that the UK borders are open to all whenever, wherever and however they want to come. The government has lost all control," Steven Woolfe wrote in a press release on his website.
The publication of these figures comes just as Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed strict new legislation to curb migration over the course of his second five-year term, to be included in the Queen's Speech next week. Among the measures unveiled by Cameron in his immigration speech are reducing demand for highly-skilled foreign workers and confiscating the wages of illegal migrants.
The party, which polled third in many constituencies in the May 7 general elections but landed only one out of the House of Commons' 650 seats, came to prominence for its Eurosceptic and uncompromising anti-immigration stance.
