Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said net migration must be controlled or it could lead to “unmanageable pressures on housing, schools and hospitals in many of our communities”.
Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Sunak said: “We can’t have uncontrolled legal migration… when it is too high and too fast, it can make it difficult for communities to integrate new arrivals.
“We cannot allow people to come here illegally at the whim of criminal gangs. It’s not fair on those who have played by the rules.
“It’s not fair on those who desperately need our help but can’t get it because our asylum system is overwhelmed by people travelling here through safe countries.”
Mr Sunak said he is not “anti-immigrant”, rather, he is doing what he believes is “fair and right”.
It comes after the Government announced on Tuesday that international students will no longer be able to bring dependents.
Mr Sunak told his Cabinet that around 136,000 visas were granted to dependants in 2022, an eightfold increase from 16,000 in 2019.
