John Healey insists Labour is ‘doing a good job on migration’ despite OBR saying arrivals may double over next five years

Official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show that the UK is set to see a doubling of net migration from 120,000 this year to 230,000 a year for the 12 months to the middle of 2031.

In all, nearly one million people will arrive more than the number who will leave in the next five years.

Challenged on GB News that he was “losing control of migration” in his “desperation to grow the economy”, Mr Healey replied: “No, on the contrary, we’ve brought net migration down to 170,000”, adding that the figure was 900,000 when Boris Johnson was PM.

He added: “We’ve seen small boat crossings now at a six-year low. This is a government that is getting back control of Britain’s borders.

“And my job as Chancellor is to try and make sure that I can help with the cost of living and the cost of business pressures that people feel.

“This was a Budget to give people a bit of relief now. But also start to make some of the big long-term changes needed to bring, especially on energy, our prices down to European levels.”

Asked if he were worried that net migration was forecast by the OBR to go up, Mr Healey said: “No, I’m confident we’re doing a good job on migration. We’re removing more people now than we have for ten years, who’ve got no right to be here.

“And that’s why you’ve seen the asylum bill down by £1 billion under this government. We’ve proved we can make these cuts.

“We’ve proved that we can start to put stronger measures in place, a system that is beginning to work better, with more to do.”

Mr Healey – who resigned as Defence secretary over spending on the military this summer – also shed light on the Government’s plans over where to house migrants after they have been moved out of hotels.

His Budget set aside £150million next year, which would be used, he said, to convert “a small handful” of military bases to house migrants.

He said the cash would be spent on a “handful of army sites that we’re making available to the Home Office for asylum”.

Mr Healey added that it would be a “small handful [which] will make a big difference to many communities at the moment that have got hotels used for asylum seekers.

“And I know what it’s like in our part of Rotherham [where] our one hotel in the constituency was an asylum hotel.

“People wanted it back for their friends and family and it’s now returned to a regular hotel and people are using it for weekend events. They’re visiting their relatives.

“This is what communities want. This is what we’re doing.”