As the prime minister travels to Japan for the G7, insiders say his focus on tackling illegal small boat crossings rather than putting a specific target on reducing legal migration reflects his pragmatism - but his comments could exacerbate growing divisions in his cabinet.
Rishi Sunak has refused to stick to Boris Johnson's election pledge of bringing annual net migration numbers below a quarter of a million by the next election, arguing instead that tackling illegal migration is"undoubtedly the country's priority".committed to making sure"overall numbers come down". At the time, net migration stood at 226,000, giving an effective target to hit during this parliament.
Mr Sunak told reporters:"I've said I do want to bring legal migration down. I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the country's priority, and you can see all the work I'm putting into that. But on legal migration as well, we are committed to bringing those numbers down.
Mr Sunak said:"That is of practical value to us in stopping illegal migration - sharing intelligence, operational cooperation will make a difference to our ability to stop the boats, tackle organised crime upstream. That’s a very tangible result of the engagement and diplomacy we conducted." Explaining his reluctance to put a hard target on legal migration levels, the prime minister said:"The key thing for people is to know [when it comes to legal migration] is why people are here, the circumstances and the terms on which they are here, making sure they contribute, to public services like the NHS for example. Those are all now part of our migration system and they weren't before.
"His motto is deliver on promises and don't promise what you can't deliver," said one government source.
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