Net migration to UK could rise to 300,000 by end of decade, says government adviser

Prof Brian Bell has said overall migration will jump ‘in the medium term’ from the current figure of 204,000. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Net migration to the UK could rise to about 300,000 by the end of the decade, a leading government adviser has said.

Prof Brian Bell, the chair of the migration advisory committee, said the overall migration figure would jump “in the medium term” from the current level of 204,000 as the numbers of overseas students and workers rose again.