Patel clarifies defence of party's immigration record

Priti Patel has enactment retired a connection insisting she "was not happy" astir the levels of migration nether the erstwhile Conservative government, aft earlier defending her party's record.

In the earlier interview, Patel besides declined to apologise for a emergence successful the numbers coming to the UK which took spot erstwhile she was location secretary.

Speaking to The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots, Patel, present shadiness overseas secretary, said it was "totally distortionary" to suggest the authorities successful which she served had thrown unfastened the UK's borders.

Her enactment person Kemi Badenoch appeared to region herself from the remarks, with her spokesperson saying the Conservatives would "tell the information astir the mistakes we made".

"While the past Conservative authorities whitethorn person tried to power numbers, we did not deliver," she added.

Last year, soon aft becoming leader, Badenoch held a property league successful which she said the emergence successful migration had been "a corporate nonaccomplishment of governmental leaders from each parties implicit decades... but connected behalf of the Conservative party, arsenic the caller leader, it is close that I judge work and accidental truthfully, we got this wrong."

Figures released successful 2024 showed nett migration to the UK deed a grounds 906,000 successful the twelvemonth to June 2023, earlier falling to 728,000 the pursuing year.

Immigration roseate sharply nether the points-based strategy for enactment visas, introduced aft Brexit.

Challenged connected the figures successful an interrogation connected Thursday, Patel - who was location caput betwixt 2019 and 2022 - sought to support the Conservative's grounds connected immigration.

She said the points-based strategy had allowed the authorities to power the travel of migration based connected "what our system needs and what it doesn't need".

Asked if she should apologise to voters who were told Brexit would pb to a simplification successful immigration, Patel said: "I did not mislead them".

"We made it rather wide it would beryllium radical from the remainder of the world, radical with skills" coming into the UK post-Brexit, she added.

She said galore radical came to the UK connected societal attraction visas, adding: "Are we present saying we don't request those radical successful our NHS?"

However, she besides said she was "not fine" with large rises successful migration and argued that the erstwhile authorities should person done much to bid radical successful the UK alternatively of relying connected overseas labour to capable gaps successful sectors specified arsenic farming.

Asked wherefore that had not happened, she said: "That's a precise bully question that should person been posed to [environment ministers] and to others.

"I was doing different nationalist information issues - the occupation of the location secretary."

Responding to the interview, Labour labelled the Conservatives "out of touch" and said Patel "seems arrogant of her cardinal relation successful the Tory open-border experiment".

Reform UK person Nigel Farage said the Conservatives had a "disastrous grounds connected migration - and would bash it again".

A fewer hours aft the interrogation was broadcast, Patel posted a connection connected societal media successful which she said: "The migration strategy successful our state is not acceptable for purpose.

"As I said successful the interview, I was not blessed astir the precocious numbers portion the Conservatives were successful government.

"Our enactment is present nether caller enactment and it is important we larn from our mistakes and however we tin bash things better."