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UK Borders Bill

I am, as ever, grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his contribution to the debate. The new clause states that the number is to be decided annually by the Secretary of State. We would consider the situation at the time, but my guess is that we could sustain immigration to this country of about 50,000 a year—certainly no more. That figure is much lower than it is at present. On the hon. Gentleman’s second point, it would not matter to me which country the immigrants came from; the issue is how much immigration our country can sustain, both economically and culturally. Immigration puts pressure on housing—about one in three new houses is built merely to deal with immigration. It puts pressure on our public services, schools and hospitals, as well as on the taxpayer, so we need a sustainable figure.