Net migrationpublished at 09:34
Just in case you were wondering the previous net migration peak was 320,000 in 2005. The figure for 2014 is also up by 50% on the previous year's 209,000.
Summary
Official net migration figures show net migration soared by more than 50% to 318,000 last year
641,000 moved to the UK in 2014, up from 526,000 in 2013. Biggest rise was in EU citizens moving to UK
Home Secretary Theresa May says Conservative ambition is still to get net migration below 100,000
David Cameron announces new immigration proposals including seizing wages of illegal immigrants
Leadership candidate Liz Kendall says Labour must reform public services and embrace the government's education reforms in England
Net migrationpublished at 09:34
Net migration hits 318,000published at 09:30
Breaking
Image source, Getty ImagesNet migration to the UK has risen over the 300,000 mark in 2014 to stand at 318,000 - just short of the highest figure on record, in 2005
Why Ireland's holding same-sex marriage referendumpublished at 09:22
Image source, ReutersVoters in the Republic of Ireland will go to the polls tomorrow to decide whether to enshrine marriage equality in the constitution.
Ireland will be the first country to use a national referendum to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 09:20
Theresa May needs to address "legal migration" and the fact that companies like Next are allowed to advertise jobs at £3 per hour in Warsaw for jobs in Yorkshire, that UK workers cannot apply for, because Cameron won't sign relevant EU directive to protect UK workers.
Ian Jordan from Tamworth
May: Tens of thousands 'ambition'published at 09:19
Here's the full answer from Theresa May to the question about whether there was still a promise to bring net migration down to the "tens of thousands":
Quote MessageWe still have that ambition of bringing net migration down to the tens of thousands, that's why we're introducing further measures in another immigration bill. We can go further now we're in a majority Conservative government. It is the ambition that we have set very clearly in our manifesto."
Immigration proposals 'heartless'published at 09:11
There has, predictably, been quite a bit of reaction to the government's latest immigration proposals. The charity the Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN), has warned the government’s plans could have the reverse effect to that which they hoped to achieve.
MRN director Don Flynn called plans to seize the wages of those working in the UK illegally "truly draconian and heartless", adding:
Quote MessageIrregular migrants in the UK fit no one’s image of a law-breaker living on the proceeds of crime. Their vulnerable status means they are confined to the most insecure and exploitative forms of employment, usually earning scarcely enough to maintain themselves on a day-to-day basis.”
Mr Flynn added the prime minister appeared to want police officers to:
Quote MessageGo rifling through the purses and wallets of people suspected in breach of the rules to seize whatever cash they have on them as the ‘proceeds of crime’. This is not money earned by robbery or fraud: it is all too often the meagre earnings from long hours or work in exploitative workplaces."
Fate of the unionpublished at 09:08
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Professor Sir Jeffrey Jowell is asked how likely he thinks it is that the United Kingdom could break up.
Quote MessageIt is more likely to break up if we don't tackle the issues and write them down somewhere in a statute that can guide parliament and can be enforced in the courts and set out the principles of responsive government at a local and regional level but also those principles that keep the union together."
UK 'in desert without map'published at 09:03
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Professor Jowell says a charter of the union in advance of a written constitution would provide a starting place towards a written constitution. He suggests that charter would outline those principles and shared values that keep the United Kingdom together.
He says without a written constitution we are in a trackless desert without a map or compass. People are entitled to a government most responsive to their needs, he adds.
Professor Jowell says a debate around a written constitution would help focus the minds of the various people's of the UK on their shared values and resources.
Image caption, Here's today weather map, just to show that talk of a desert is a metaphor...
Devolution settlement 'lacks coherence'published at 08:58
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4The constitutional group's director, Professor Sir Jeffrey Jowell says devolution was introduced “piecemeal", which has meant it has lacked clarity and coherence.
Quote MessageWe’ve focused upon issues such as what powers should Scotland have, Wales, Northern Ireland. We’ve neglected England and we’ve neglected the fact that a devolution settlement should combine both self-rule but also shared rule and it’s those principles that need to be set out with clarity.”
Call for UK written constitutionpublished at 08:55
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4The UK should introduce a written constitution and any second referendum on Scottish independence should not be held for at least 15 years.
That's the conclusion of a prominent group of constitutional experts. The group is made up of lawyers and academics who were asked by the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law to look at the issue.
What they're proposing is a "charter of the union" to set out the relationship between the four nations of the UK. It comes as former Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable warned that the union of the United Kingdom could be "torn apart" by the forces of nationalism., external
Mr Cable added the union faced the greatest crisis since Irish nationalists pushed for independence 100 years ago.
Airbus warning over EU exitpublished at 08:52
Image source, AirbusThe European aerospace and defence giant Airbus would reconsider investment in the UK in the event of Britain leaving the European Union.
Paul Kahn, president of the 16,000-employee Airbus UK, said Britain must compete for international investment.
"The best way to guarantee this is by remaining part of the EU," he said. Last night, Chancellor George Osborne said in a speech to the CBI employers' group that he wants the UK "to be in Europe, but not run by Europe".
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised a referendum on the UK's EU membership by the end of 2017, and the matter has been rising up the political and business agenda.
May: Most have simply overstayed visapublished at 08:43
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Ms May tells Today:
Quote MessageI think many people think that the majority of people who are here illegally must have come across the border illegally in the backs of lorries and so forth. Actually that’s not the case - most people here illegally, came here legally but have overstayed their visas."
May: We need to control migration numberspublished at 08:31
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Mrs May says there are things that the government can do and has done to control immigration. She says this includes restricting the length of time that someone can be in the UK without getting a job and requiring people to be in the UK for a period of time before they can claim benefits such as jobseekers allowance.
One of the topics for negotiation with Europe is likely to be around free movement of people Ms May tells Today. And one of the questions within that is the further tightening of benefits, she adds. The government wants people that come to the UK to have lived here for four years before they could claim benefits, she says.
She adds:
Quote MessageWe believe we need to control in our immigration system. Overall immigration has been good for the UK but you need to control the numbers of people who are migrating into the United Kingdom."
May: The benefits of majoritypublished at 08:27
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Theresa May says the government’s proposals are about making it harder for people to stay in the UK illegally and providing a very clear deterrent to those considering staying illegally.
The Immigration Bill will enhance the government’s ability to “go after” people who are here illegally, she says.
Mrs May cites requirements on landlords to check that the person they are renting their property to are here legally. She says however that scheme was only introduced as a pilot because the Conservative Party were constrained by being in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
May: We failed to meet targetpublished at 08:21
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4“We failed to meet that target,” Mrs May says about the Conservatives' commitment to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands at the 2010 election. She says the Conservatives' aim is still to achieve this cut and says that now they are no longer in coalition they can do things they couldn't when in government with the Lib Dems. She adds that bringing in the new illegal working bill would help achieve the government’s aim on net migration.
EU free movementpublished at 08:20
BBC political correspondent tweets...
May: We will take action against individualspublished at 08:19
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4Theresa May says:
Quote MessageWe have already have cases where action has been taken against employers now we are saying to the individual who is here illegal ‘action will be taken against you."
May: New illegal working offence to be deterrentpublished at 08:15
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
People working hard and paying their taxes want the government to act over the issue of illegal immigrants working in the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May tells the Today programme.
Mrs May says most illegal immigrants are those that have come to the UK legally, worked or studied in the UK legally but have overstayed their visas.
She says the new offence of illegal working will make a very real difference as a deterrent to people who might consider over staying their visa. Mrs May adds the new offence, which could see illegal immigrants have their wages confiscated by authorities, is not about revenue raising.
May: Immigration measurespublished at 08:12
Home Secretary Theresa May has been on BBC Breakfast and is now on BBC Radio 4's Today talking about the planned measures in the immigration bill which will be in the Queen's Speech next week. She is being asked about the practicalities of how cash can be seized from the illegal workers.
Wages seizedpublished at 08:07
People working illegally in the UK could have their wages seized by the police, under the government's latest plans on immigration due to be announced by the prime minister later today.
David Cameron will say it has become "too easy" for migrants not entitled to be in Britain to exploit loopholes in the system.
But critics are warning the change will hit vulnerable people trying to support their families.