Migration figures are falling – but the crisis is far from over

Ok folks, the show is over and there’s nothing left to see: that traditional refrain of an American police officer at the scene of an on-street drama is being repurposed for Britain’s immigration debate. Official figures out today show a significant downward trend in visa applications for work and study – and especially for bringing in dependants after a tightening of the rules at the fag end of the last Conservative administration. 

Sponsored study visa applications fell by 16 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, while applications to bring in dependants plunged by a massive 81 per cent. Applications for health and social care worker dependants are also down sharply. 

For the Tories, this shows that measures implemented last year to counteract an enormous spike in foreign students and low-paid workers bringing in family members have worked.