Net immigration into the UK rose to 237,000 people last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The increase triggered a political row between government ministers and the Conservatives over immigration controls.Statistics released today reveal that the numbers arriving to live here for a year or more in 2007 fell slightly but the emigration level dipped significantly. Figures show that 577,000 people came to live in the UK for a year or more while 340,000 people left. In the previous year, the comparable figures were 591,000 people arriving in the UK and 400,000 leaving to live overseas. That produced a net immigration figure of 191,000 in 2006.The annual report from the ONS attempts to track arrivals at and departures from UK borders. Most of those arriving last year...

Jeremy Seabrook: It's easy to believe that we are united by ill will to refugees, but the spirit of 1943 suggests...

Immigration minister Phil Woolas has attacked lawyers and charities working on behalf of asylum seekers, accusing them of undermining the law and "playing the system". In an interview with the Guardian, Woolas described the legal professionals and NGO workers as "an industry", and said most asylum seekers were not fleeing persecution but were economic migrants."The system is played by migration lawyers and NGOs to the nth degree," Woolas said. "By giving false hope and by undermining the legal system, [they] actually cause more harm than they do good."It is the latest in a series of controversial public interventions by Woolas since he was appointed immigration minister by Gordon Brown in the October reshuffle.Immigration lawyers said Woolas's comments were "absolutely...

Another 1,350 illegal immigrants have slipped through vetting checks for sensitive security jobs, it was disclosed...

Universities are being asked to set up surveillance units to monitor the movements of international students in a government-led crackdown on bogus student immigration scams, academics say. New rules to force universities to report overseas students who miss too many lectures to immigration officers will harm the academic-student relationship because lecturers are being asked to act in a "police-like" manner, according to a group of 200 academics and activists opposing the moves. A letter to the Guardian, organised by Ian Grigg-Spall, academic chair of the National Critical Lawyers Group and signed by leading academic lawyers, the head of the lecturers' union and Tony Benn, claims that the rules could breach the European convention on human rights, which guarantees the individual's right...

Government insists that roll-out of ID cards cards is not being scaled back, as it emerges that workers at just two airports will be used to test the...

Damarys Ocaña: Four years ago, George Bush won an unprecedented 40% of the Latino vote. John McCain won't be so...

Days into new role, Phil Woolas takes personal responsibility for clearing backlog of asylum...

Nicholas Milton: By calling for a cap on immigration, Phil Woolas is highlighting the link between racial tension and the economic...

Labour MPs and unions accuse Phil Woolas of starting an 'auction of anti-foreigner rhetoric' with the...

Phil Woolas is applauded by anti-immigration group Migrationwatch but leaves senior Labour colleague 'astonished' with call for quota on...

Judge criticises Ministry of Defence for 'unlawful' restrictions in ruling which could see over 2,000 cases...

A few weeks ago I argued that the British government treatment of Gurkha’s who had left the army prior to 1997 was immoral and unfair: http://www.power-to-the-people.co.uk/2008/09/immigration-policy-farce/ In effect, the government argued that Gurkha’s that had retired from the army prior to 1997 would not have an automatic right to stay in the UK. Today, instead of the government acting with honour, it was left to the judiciary, The judge, Mr Justice Blake, said the Gurkhas’ long service, conspicuous acts of bravery and loyalty to the Crown all pointed to a “moral debt of honour” and gratitude felt by British people. I could not have put it better myself. He went on to say that the advice given by the Home Office to the immigration department was...

Judge continues injunction preventing rapper's removal from the UK hours before he was due on...

High court judge orders rapper's immediate release, ruling it is arguable that his detention is...

Cards to go first to 50,000 non-EU nationals and to those in security-sensitive...

Hip-hop star refused entry to UK on eve of Albert Hall gig because of assault charges in the...

Ex-soldiers challenge claim that Gurkhas who retired before 1997 should not automatically be granted...

Whilst our immigration policy is prepared to allow in EU citizens, asylum seekers, economic migrants, gangs and people smugglers, we are refusing entry to a handful of Ghurka’s and Iraqui interpreters that have helped us. For example, since the time of the Empire, the formidable Gurkha’s, have long fought alongside the British Army in campaigns from the two world wars, through to the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. In spite of this we are prepared to refuse entry to these brave soldiers who have risked their lives for our liberty and freedom, such that it is under the Labour government. Although we have allowed Gurkha’s that have left the army recently, to settle in the UK, we are refusing this benefit to those that left more than a decade ago. Surely our...

Old soldiers in Nepal discuss their fight for the right to live in...

Comment is free: Philippe Legrain: We need an immigration system that favours care workers, not investment...

New rules on recruiting workers from outside EU to exclude doctors and...