RISHI Sunak is braced for a Tory backlash today amid fears of a record rise in net migration.
Insiders worry the figure could show as many as 700,000 foreigners came to Britain in the year to June — roughly equivalent to a city the size of Newcastle.
It comes as two migrants — a man and a woman in their thirties — drowned yesterday after a small boat packed with people capsized in French waters.
A third victim was airlifted to hospital, while 57 passengers were rescued.
Net migration is now expected to surge past the previous 12-month high of 606,000 in 2022 and spark demands for stricter controls.
The PM’s pledge to bring net migration below 245,000 as promised in the party’s 2019 election manifesto now looks beyond hope.
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Tory MP Tom Hunt told The Sun: “We stood on a manifesto saying we’d cut net migration.
“At the time it was a little over 200,000. The vast majority of the electorate think migration is too high.
“We need to bring numbers down substantially.”
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