[Denver]

THERESA MAY has promised again to slash migration to the tens of the thousands in the upcoming election manifesto.

David Cameron’s target, which was set in 2010, has yet to be met, but the PM still wants to aim to cut the numbers drastically.

At a campaign launch in Labour heartland Harrow this morning, she reiterated the need to have the aim.

“Let’s look at why we have the net migration target…

“It’s because of the impact it has on people – particularly on the lower end of the income scale.”

She said that higher levels of migration put pressure on our public services, like schools and the NHS.

“We want to bring down net migration – we believe that is the tens of thousands,” she vowed today.

“Once we leave the European Union we will have the opportunity to have control of our borders in the UK… that’s a part of the picture we haven’t been able to control before.

“Leaving the EU means that we won’t have free movement as we have had in the past…. Jeremy Corbyn wants to carry on with free movement as it always has been.”


Mrs May also urged voters to give her a mandate as big as Emmanuel Macron's in France last night.

He swept the floor in the final round last night with a whopping 62 per cent of the vote.

She said: "Yesterday a new French President was elected with a strong mandate...

"We need to make sure we have an equally strong mandate and an equally strong position."

She also urged her candidates and supporters not to take anything for granted in the run up to May 8.

Mrs May said they must "leave no stone unturned, no street un-walked down, no door un-knocked on.

"Every vote counts, because every person counts."

Theresa May says she wants a mandate for Brexit as big as Emmanuel Macron's
Yesterday Amber Rudd refused to say whether the pledge would be repeated in this election, sparking speculation it would be scrapped.

She dodged demands to say whether the target will feature in manifestos - which are due to be released in the next few weeks.

She said: “We will be coming forward with our manifesto soon and all we will be revealed in there. It’s not going to be identical to the last one.

“My personal view is that we need to continue to bring immigration down. I want to make sure we do it in a way that supports businesses."

And she added: “We’re ending free movement when we leave the EU so the situation from that time the manifesto has changed because we’re leaving the EU so it’s right that we look at it again.”

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley had also cast doubt on the target last month when she claimed it was "not about putting numbers on it" but ensuring Britain had access to skilled migration.

Amber Rudd yesterday refused to commit to the goal - leading to speculation it would be dropped
Top Tories have said in the past that the promise was "all but dead and buried" - but it appears they have changed their minds.

The last set of figures showed 273,000 still came to the UK last year.

Today Tory Nadhim Zahawi, who is seeking re-election as the MP for Stratford-Upon-Avon, said that the target must be on the table.

He told Radio 4: "We’ve got to bring net migration down to sustainable levels… that's the tens of thousands.

"Theresa May absolutely cares about making sure our immigration is sustainable for this country."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/350596...ion-manifesto/