Legal migration is too high. PM says

Rishi Sunak says ineligible migration to the UK is "too high" but has refused to enactment a precise fig connected acceptable levels of radical coming to the UK.

The premier curate told the BBC helium was "considering a scope of options" to bring down ineligible migration.

He has been facing unit to present connected a 2019 Conservative manifesto committedness to bring down levels of nett migration.

New figures connected nett migration to the UK are expected successful the coming weeks.

In an interrogation conducted with the BBC's Chris Mason astatine the G7 Summit successful Hiroshima, Japan, Mr Sunak refused to beryllium drawn connected the specifics of the government's program connected ineligible migration.

Asked if helium would halt immoderate planetary students bringing dependents with them erstwhile they travel to survey successful the UK, Mr Sunak said helium wouldn't "speculate".

"What I would accidental is we're considering a scope of options to assistance tackle numbers of ineligible migration and to bring those numbers down - and we'll speech much astir that successful the future," helium said.

In the twelvemonth to June 2022, numbers exceeded 500,000, and caller figures retired successful the coming weeks could beryllium arsenic precocious arsenic 1 million.

"The numbers are excessively high, and we privation to bring them down," Mr Sunak said, adding that figures were higher successful 2022 owed to Ukrainian refugees coming to the UK, thing helium said the state should beryllium "proud of".

Pushed connected what an "acceptable level" would beryllium successful presumption of ineligible migration numbers, Mr Sunak said it would "depend connected however the economy's doing astatine immoderate peculiar clip and the circumstances we're facing".

"So I don't privation to enactment a precise fig connected it. What I tin archer you is the numbers are precocious and we bash privation to bring them down," helium said, insisting that tackling amerciable migration was his priority.

The Conservatives pledged to bring down wide numbers of migrants coming to the UK successful their 2019 manifesto, astatine which clip migration levels were astatine 226,000.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been calling for little immigration, and suggested much British radical should beryllium trained to bash jobs commonly done by overseas workers, specified arsenic lorry driving and effect picking.

But Mr Sunak has taken a little hard-line approach, and has said much seasonal effect pickers volition beryllium allowed to travel to the UK if required.

Earlier this week, the premier curate utilized his sojourn to a Council of Europe gathering successful Iceland to telephone for greater practice betwixt the UK and EU connected amerciable migration.

Following the summit, Downing Street said the UK and the EU had agreed to enactment unneurotic to tackle cross-border transgression and radical smuggling.