Marc Williams
Newsnight Election Producer

The Government were clearly expecting today's immigration figures to bring bad news, scheduling a keynote speech from the Prime Minister on what they are going to do to tackle immigration. 

The bad news has duly materialised: ONS figures , external show that net migration is now at 318,000, just 2,000 short of the highest level it has ever been at (320,000 in June 2005). It is also over three times the level ("tens of thousands") which is the Tories' overarching target.

Given that the political flak revolves around the net figure it was a bit surprising that the message of David Cameron's speech today was about people who do not always show up in the figures: illegal immigrants.

Read Marc's post in full here.

Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee isn't happy with the idea of another Budget. She says 'these children of Thatcher'  are free to cut, cut, cut – and they’re loving every minute., external

She says few chancellors hold a Budget after they've won the election if they were already the governing party.

Yet last night, she says, George Osborne announced that he was "tearing up every departmental and agency budget after contracts are signed half way through the year".

"What is there in his spending plans that he dared not announce to voters before the election?" she asks. Well, presumably we'll find out in the Budget on 5 July.

Labour’s immigration spokesman David Hanson says there are some elements of the government's immigration proposals where his party agrees with the Conservatives, partly because, he says, Labour proposed them in the first place. 

Mr Hanson says this includes the ban on employment agencies advertising job vacancies exclusively overseas. He says Labour first proposed such legislation a year ago but  Mr Cameron "couldn't care less".

Mr Hanson says students should also be taken out of the net migration figures. He says students bring skills, jobs, fees and goodwill

Steven Woolfe MEP, the UKIP Migration spokesman has responded to the latest ONS figures:

David Cameron says some professions are on the shortage occupation list year after year. He says the government will seek to limit the length of time industries can stay on this list in future. “If you have a shortage year after year you should be training people,” Mr Cameron says. 

 Making it illegal for employment agencies to advertise job vacancies overseas without advertising the same vacancies in the UK will also go some way to reducing the squeeze on wages and the rise in net migration Mr Cameron adds.  

During his speech David Cameron also made clear that controlling immigration was a job for the whole of government - health, local government, education etc - rather than just a border control issue, or a Home Office issue. He says that now they are a Conservative government they can ensure that all departments work together.

And the third big thing? Renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the European Union which Mr Cameron suggests will address the spike in the number of people coming to the UK from the European Union (EU). 

There'll be a lot of attention paid to the detail of how this might happen - whether it is just tackling benefits rules or a more fundamental shift in the rules for the free movement of people within the EU.

Mr Cameron says the immigration bill will focus on three big things. The first we knew about, which was the crackdown on illegal immigrants working in the UK. The second may concern some businesses - Mr Cameron says the government will reform immigration and labour market rules to “reduce the demand for skilled migrant labour and crack down on the exploitation of low skilled workers”.

Mr Cameron says the “aim” to get net migration down to the tens of thousands remains a government “ambition”. The prime minister says he still intends to govern for every person in Britain. He says now the Conservatives are governing on their own they can be stronger in government. The party can be “tougher, fairer and faster“ starting next week with the government’s immigration bill which he confirms will be in the Queen’s Speech next week.

Mr Cameron claims that there were times under the last Labour government where 90% of jobs created were taken by foreign nationals. 

He claims now the majority of jobs created under his government have “gone to Brits” (though that wasn't the case in the year to March according to today's ONS stats).

Mr Cameron says job creation has been supported by radical welfare reform, the creation of 2 million more apprenticeships and a system where it pays to work. The government is getting there, he adds.

The prime minister has begun speaking. He says being concerned about immigration isn’t a bad thing:

He says the government has revoked the driving licences of 9,000 illegal immigrants, clamped down on sham marriages, and introduced exit checks to ensure the government knows when people have gone home. 

Mr Cameron says immigration is the business of every government department, not just the Home Office.

David Cameron thanked Home Office staff for their work as he began his speech setting out proposed immigration measures.

The government is building an immigration system that is firmer but fairer says Home Secretary Theresa May as she lists measures taken in the last parliament. She says that net migration is still too high but says that without the Lib Dems holding them back, measures will be taken to reduce it. She then introduces the prime minister to make his speech on the government's new immigration policies.

Image source, Getty

Green party leader,Natalie Bennett, has attacked the government's immigration proposals:

Image source, ONS

Read the full ONS stats release here, external