THE Conservative-led Government's migration policy is "in chaos", Labour has insisted, after senior Tories urged David Cameron to abandon his controversial target to reduce the overall annual net figure to below 100,000.
But No 10 made clear the Prime Minister was sticking by his "ambition" to cut the net number, which is now higher at just under 300,000, than it was when he came to office in 2010.
Ken Clarke, the former Home Secretary, suggested globalisation had now made the target impossible while Baroness Warsi, an ex-Tory Party Chairwoman, branded it "unrealistic". It is also believed Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles have also raised concerns over the target.
Asked about Mr Clarke's concerns, Mr Cameron's spokesman stressed how the PM took a different view on the subject to the Tory grandee. "It won't be the first time that he and Ken haven't had exactly the same views," he noted.
The spokesman said the Tory leader's views on the need to reduce annual net migration below 100,000 had not changed since a speech in November.
Then, Mr Cameron said: "The ambition remains the right one but it's clear it's going to take more time, more work and more difficult long-term decisions in order to get there."
The spokesman confirmed that this remained the PM's view, adding: "He thinks the UK would be a better and stronger country with net migration in the tens of thousands. Those are the reasons he has given before and they haven't changed."
But Labour's David Hanson said: "The Government's immigration policy goes from chaos to failure and back to chaos. Not only has David Cameron broken his own 'no ifs, no buts' promise on reducing net migration - which now stands at over 50,000 more than when he came to office - it's now clear that fellow Conservative Cabinet Ministers don't think David Cameron and Theresa May's immigration policy is working either."
The Shadow Immigration Minister said his party had long argued that immigration needed to be controlled but in a fair way.
"Stronger border controls with 1000 more staff, stronger enforcement to stop employers exploiting cheap migrant labour to undercut wages and jobs, and new rules to make sure people contribute first and can't claim benefits until they have lived here for two years," explained Mr Hanson.
"What is clear today is that the Prime Minister has badly handled immigration. He's hurting UK prospects and his rhetoric isn't even now believed by his own side," he added.
Meantime in a report today, MP and peers said immigration detention should be capped at 28 days.
The All Party Parliamentary Groups on Refugees and on Migration said Home Office officials were failing to follow guidance that immigration detention should be used sparingly and for the shortest period possible.
The groups noted how the UK was the only country in the EU not to have an upper time-limit on detention and stressed that the lack of one had significant mental health costs for detainees as well as considerable financial costs to the taxpayer.
The MPs and peers added that the UK Government should look at alternatives to detention, including allowing individuals to live in the community.
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