Nigel Farage has launched a scathing attack on immigration figures, claiming that only one in five recent legal migrants to Britain are in employment.
Speaking on GB News, Farage challenged the narrative that immigration benefits the economy, citing his analysis of recent migration data.
The criticism comes as Britain grapples with record-high net migration figures, which reached 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023.
Speaking on GB News, Nigel said: "This narrative that immigration is good because they're all coming here to work. I've looked at the figures of the last couple of million that came, only a fifth are working."
Nigel Farage blasted it as "absolutely shameful"
GB News
Chairman of Migrant Watch Alp Mehmet said: "Well, we've known for years and years, that overall net migration of the sort of numbers that we've had in the past, which were much lower than they are now, it's been a net fiscal cost.
"There's costs that go on. Let's put this in simpler English. It's making us poorer. If you look at GDP per head, the money in our pockets, I'm afraid that's flatlined for many, many years and recently has actually been reducing."
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Jo Philips former press secretary to Paddy Ashdown said: "What about the people who are coming here to work to do jobs?"
Nigel said: "1 in 5 of those have been allowed to work. That is shameful. If you speed it up the asylum process, a lot of those people actually would be able to work and contribute."
His comments follow Prime Minister Keir Starmer's recent criticism of Conservative immigration policies.
Starmer had accused his predecessors of deliberately designing a "one-nation experiment in open borders."
Jo Philips argued some are working
GB News
The Labour leader claimed the Conservatives had intentionally reformed policies to liberalise immigration, leading to the current record numbers.
Recent Home Office figures show the scale of the issue, with the asylum system costing British taxpayers £5.38billion in 2023-24.
There were 35,361 migrants in hotels at the end of September, marking a 21 per cent increase since June.
Labour has indicated it won't set specific migration targets, with cabinet minister Pat McFadden saying these "haven't worked very well".
The latest figures show Channel crossings have increased by 64 per cent since Labour took power 150 days ago.
Keir Starmer is under pressure to tackle the crisis
PAShadow Home Secretary Chris Philp revealed that 20,110 migrants have reached the UK since the election, compared with 12,239 in the previous 150 days.
Home Office data confirmed 122 migrants crossed the Channel on Sunday alone.
This year has already recorded the second-highest annual number of small boat arrivals at 33,684. Tragically, at least 65 migrants have died in the Channel this year - marking the deadliest year on record.
The government revealed it spent £715million on the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme, including £50m on preparing an unused airfield.
