MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Net immigration to UK reached 237.000 last year

Net immigration to the United Kingdom rose to 237,000 in 2007, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The number was up by 46,000 on 2006 as a result of a fall in the number of people moving out of the

The estimated number of people arriving to live in the UK for 12 months or more was 577,000 in 2007, compared with 591,000 in 2006, while the number of people leaving the country fell from 400,000 to 340,000 over the same period. Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the UK population should not exceed 70 million. By last year the population was just under 61 million. The Tories have called for a cap on the number of people from outside the EU who are allowed to move to the UK. The figures mean that immigrants have added more than 1.8 million to the population since Labour came to power in 1997, when net immigration stood at 50,000. In 2006 the ONS said immigration stood at 190,000. The number of people applying for asylum in the UK between July and September this year was up 12% on the same period last year - the fifth consecutive quarter to show a year-on-year increase. There were 6,620 applications, compared with 5,885 in the same quarter last year. Over the 12 months to the end of September, there were 25,800 asylum applications, a 15% rise on the numbers for the preceding 12 months.