Record Immigration As PM Announces Clampdown

David Cameron has said he will not abandon his pledge to reduce net migration to the "tens of thousands" despite figures showing the level is at three times his target.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics released on Thursday show that net migration for 2014 hit a record 318,000 - an increase of 109,000 (52%) on 2013.

This is more than 200,000 above the Prime Minister's target of under 100,000 promised in 2011. It is the highest net migration figure for a calendar year since the International Passenger Survey began in 1970.

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The Prime Minister repeated that pledge during a speech in London - after the figures were released - saying he would stick to the target despite the fact it had been significantly exceeded.

He said: "The right thing to do is to deliver what the British people think is right, and what I think is right, and that is properly controlled immigration."

He added; "The number of people coming to our country has been, and is, too high," and said the figures showed "how much work we have to do".

He announced a raft of measures to crack down on illegal immigrants, including seizing the wages of those living here illegally and deporting people before their appeal is heard and tagging those due for deportation.

They will be part of the Immigration Bill to be set out in the Queen's Speech next week.

Mr Cameron said: "A strong country isn't one that pulls up the drawbridge … it is one that controls immigration.

"Because if you have uncontrolled immigration, you have uncontrolled pressure on public services.

"And that is a basic issue of fairness.

"Uncontrolled immigration can damage our labour market and push down wages. It means too many people entering the UK legally but staying illegally.

"The British people want these things sorted."

However, these measures will have no impact on the net migration figures because the Government freely admits it does not know how many people are living in the UK illegally.

Speaking to Sky News, Home Secretary Theresa May said there was a "significant" number of illegal immigrants in the country but she was unable to give a figure.

Mrs May said: "No official figures have ever been put on illegal immigrants but obviously we are enhancing our ability through exit checks to identify those who have left the country and therefore identify overstayers. We are looking at significant numbers."

She added: "We want to extend the (deportation rules) so that people who have no right to be here but are able to appeal have to leave the country first, so they can be deported and then appeal from outside the country."

The most recent figures on the number of illegal immigrants comes from a study commissioned by London Mayor Boris Johnson when he was considering an amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The report by the London School of Economics estimated there were between 400,000 and 900,000 people living in Britain illegally.

Today's figures from the ONS show the increase in net migration was driven by 268,000 EU citizens coming to live in the country in 2014 - the highest ever number.

The disclosure will put significant pressure on Mr Cameron as he looks to renegotiate Britain's deal with the EU to help stem the flow of immigrants to the UK. Around 45% of immigrants living here are from the EU.

He will be opening discussions with other EU leaders on Friday at a meeting in the Latvian capital Riga.

Figures also released by the ONS on Thursday showed that more than half of the 576,000 jobs created in the country last year went to migrants - 49% to UK nationals.

Steve Ballinger, from the think-tank British Future, told Sky News the measures outlined by Mr Cameron would not bring down the migration numbers.

He said: "If you've promised to get the net migration system down most of those people are here legally so that isn't going to have a huge impact.

"If he has got a plan to get net migration down, he should come out and say what it is."