The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest estimate on net migration to the UK.

The figure in the year to June 2024 728,000 - but it was the previous annual figure, revised upwards to a record 906,000, that was the big surprise.

We're ending our live coverage now, but don't go anywhere - there's plenty more on this story across the BBC News website:

• For an at-a-glance digest of the action, we've wrapped up everything you need to know in 200 words
• Want a fuller take? Check out our lead story, which will be updated regularly in our absence
• There's also a handy guide to all the numbers (and there are lots of them)
• To get a sense how things unfolded, you can scroll back through this page

This page was edited by Emily Atkinson, Owen Amos, and Dulcie Lee. It was written by Cachella Smith, Malu Cursino, Adam Goldsmith, Ian Aikman, and Hollie Cole.

What do we know about Iraqi asylum seekers in the UK?published at 17:18 Greenwich Mean Time 28 November 2024

17:18 GMT 28 November 2024

By Lucy Gilder

The government has announced a plan with Iraq to tackle people smuggling gangs and reduce small boat crossings across the Channel.

One part of the agreement aims to speed up returns of failed Iraqi asylum seekers.

The immigration figures released today, external show that in the year to September 2024, the UK government returned 169 Iraqi nationals whose asylum claims had failed. There were just over 8,500 asylum related returns in total.

In the same period, a third of initial decisions on Iraqi asylum applications were granted.

There were more than 2,500 attempts by Iraqi nationals to enter the UK without permission in the 12 months to September 2024, making up about 7% of total attempts recorded over this period.

Image source, PA Media

Some reaction now to Sir Keir Starmer's speech from the shadow home secretary, who says the prime minister has "no plan and no desire to tackle the high levels of migration".

Chris Philp says under Tory leader Kemi Badenoch's, the Tories will "learn from past mistakes and adopt a new approach" to lowering immigration, which includes a "strict cap on numbers" and having an "effective legal deterrent".

Before we head off go, let's hit rewind on all the action from across today:

• Record high: Net migration into the UK hit a record 906,000in the year to June 2023, much higher than previously estimated, figures published by the Office for National Statistics showed
• And now?: Annual net migration - the difference between those entering and leaving the country - currently stands at 728,000, this morning's release outlined
• How we got here: The historically high levels are down the war in Ukraine and post-Brexit visa rules, while numbers have reduced in the past year due to tighter visa rules brought in under Rishi Sunak, it found

• 'Graft, not gimmicks': Keir Starmer said his government would put in the "hard graft" to drive down numbers, and accused the Tories of running an "open-border experiment" when they were in power

• Going for glory: Former Tory home secretaries Suella Braverman and James Cleverly claimed separately that the drop in net migration this year was down to changes they implemented

• In other news: The UK and Iraq have signed a new security agreement in a bid to crack down on people smuggling gangs – our diplomatic correspondent James Landale has the detail

Who are the ‘low-wage migrants’ that cost more than they contribute?published at 16:45 Greenwich Mean Time 28 November 2024

16:45 GMT 28 November 2024

By Gerry Georgieva

The shadow home secretary Chris Philp said yesterday that the majority of working migrants in the UK - 68% - earned less than the median wage.

He added: “This should concern us because recent Office for Budget Responsibility analysis showed that low-wage migrant workers are fiscally negative […] for every single year of their life".

The claim that low-wage migrants are "fiscally negative" – meaning they cost more than they contribute - is backed by the independent OBR in a recent report, external.

But it defines them as those earning belowhalfof the average wage – below £19,000 - not below the £37,430 median wage, as Chris Philp does.

In fact, the OBR analysis shows that migrants earning the average wage contribute financially to the economy for nearly their whole life, until they pass the age of 90.

They’re even more financially beneficial for the UK than representative British residents, as the state hadn’t spent anything on them throughout their youth abroad.

Image source, PA Media

As promised, here's a look back at the key lines from the press conference held by Prime Minister Keir Starmer

• Blame it on the Tories: Starmer repeatedly criticised his Conservative predecessors, saying they were running an "open-borders experiment" and had failed to deliver lower net migration numbers "by design, not accident"
• 'Hard graft' ahead: Labour will "turn the page" on migration with "graft, not gimmicks", and will work to reduce the numbers, he said
• No 'arbitrary' targets: But when the PM was asked repeatedly what level of migration he'd like to see, he provided no target, saying an "arbitrary cap" has had no impact in the past
• What now?: Starmer said a new white paper, which will include proposals for legislation to reduce immigration, will be published "imminently" and hailed the "world first" UK-Iraq security agreement announced earlier

For our more detailed coverage of the conference, scroll back through our posts from 15:20 onwards.

How have migration figures changed since Labour was last in power?published at 15:55 Greenwich Mean Time 28 November 2024

15:55 GMT 28 November 2024

By Rob England, data journalist

In 2009, the last full year Labour was in power, net migration - the difference between the number of people arriving in the UK and leaving - stood at about 229,000.

It remained around this number each year until the Covid pandemic, which saw a sharp drop due to lockdown restrictions.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says that since 2021, long-term international migration to the UK has been at “unprecedented levels”.

That year a new points-based system was introduced for work visas. In the years following, humanitarian schemes were launched for people from Ukraine and Hong Kong, and asylum numbers steadily rose.

The latest set of figures to June 2024 is the second fall seen in net migration in a row, and there are early indications from more recent visa figures the numbers could fall again.

A Daily Mail reporter asks Starmer about the revising upwards of previous figures on net migration, also published today by the ONS.

Does there needs to be a "rethink" of how these are put together, she asks.

In response, the PM says that the problem with the figures does not lie with the ONS.

What is "shocking" is not that they have been revised but the "sheer figures" themselves, he says.

With that, the press conference ends and Starmer departs.

We'll bring you a wrap of the top lines shortly.

The Sun asks whether Starmer appreciates the cultural impact of immigration, as well as the economics of it.

Starmer agrees that he's mainly addressed the topic from an economic angle, but adds that "in principle" it is right that we have the skills and training for the people in the UK for the jobs that the country needs.

Times Radio asks the prime minister if the spending on the asylum system will be zero by the end of next year.

Costs must be brought down, he says, adding that one of the Labour Party's manifesto pledges is to bring down the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

He says the way to achieve that is to increase the processing of asylum claims, adding that people are in hotels because their claims are not being processed and more asylum seekers keep arriving in the UK

"That was completely unsustainable," he says, adding that 1,000 staff have been employed for processing asylum claims.

GB News, like Sky News, asks Starmer what level of net migration he'd be happy with. Does he want to see a return to 2019 levels?

The prime minister says the numbers are "far too high" and signal a "loss of control". But, again, he doesn't commit to a figure he'd be happy with or a timeframe to achieve it.

"The days of fiction and pretending there are easy answers are over," he says. "These are the days of hard graft."

Image source, EPA

Another question on numbers - ITV asks whether he will set a cap on net migration.

The prime minister reiterates that he wants to the see the figure "come down significantly".

He says the way to do this is by "bearing down" on the influences that have driven it up - referring to his previous commitments on building skills in the UK.

But he says he doesn't think an "arbitrary cap" is the way forward - adding that in the past such a cap has made no meaningful impact.

Sky News asks what Starmer means when he says he wants to bring immigration down - does this mean to the low hundreds of thousands?

Starmer says the current increase is "off the scale", but refuses to give a specific target.

The prime minister is now taking questions from the press - first up is the BBC's political editor Chris Mason.

Chris Mason says the UK appears to have become "addicted" to immigration despite people for years indicating they want immigration numbers to fall.

Why should people believe that Starmer will do this, after previous prime ministers haven't achieved it, he asks.

Starmer says today's migration figures are "really stark" and should "shock all of us".

He says policy under the previous Conservative government has driven up immigration to "record levels", adding that the problem is the "way the economy works".

The PM says his government will turn it around.

Alongside the NHS and the economy, securing borders is "the issue that matters to working people," Starmer says.

He addresses people watching directly: "Where the last government failed you, this one will not."

The Tories "drove immigration numbers up," he says. "We will get them down."

He adds that it won't be quick or easy. But he says his government will turn things around, "not with gimmicks, but with graft".

Image source, PA Media

Starmer turns now to the new security agreement between the UK and Iraq - calling it a "world first".

This will involve greater intelligence sharing and more joint law enforcement operations to increase prosecutions of people smugglers.

Starmer adds that funding will also be given to Iraqi law enforcement to tackle the problem "upstream".

The prime minister says he will "imminently" publish a white paper that sets out plan to reduce immigration.

• For context: A white paper is a document produced by the government that sets out their proposals for future legislation.

The immigration advisory committee is already conducting a review, Starmer says, and will reform a points-based system for sectors too reliant on immigration.

Starmer says there will be new expectations on training people in the UK, and adds that the government will crack down on the abuse of visa rules, which currently send a clear signal that the UK is a "soft touch".

Starmer pledges to "turn the page", which he adds will begin with the economy.

The prime minister says the previous Conservative government cannot separate its "failure" on immigration with their "refusal to do the hard yards", rather than the "easy answer of looking overseas".

Starmer says "time and again", the Conservatives "promised and failed" to get migration numbers down.

A "chorus of excuses" from the Tories has begun, he adds.

"Failure on this scale isn't just bad luck," he says. "This is a different order of failure."

He says it happened "by design, not accident".

Policies were deliberately reformed to "liberalise immigration," Starmer says. Brexit turned Britain into an "experiment in open borders," he adds.

Starmer begins his speech by accusing the Conservatives of "running an open borders experiment" during their time in office.