Rishi Sunak says he aims to bring immigration below level he ‘inherited’

Rishi Sunak said it was clear ‘people’s number one priority when it comes to migration is illegal migration’. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

Rishi Sunak has set a new goal of bringing migration down below the level he “inherited”, which was about 500,000 net arrivals a year when he became prime minister.

He redefined his target on immigration after earlier in the week backing away from the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto promise to reduce it below the level then of about 220,000.