Record Migration Causes Trouble for Sunak

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Good evening. Darren is enjoying a well deserved Friday in the sun and today I am with you to get through these turbulent times.

Net migration to the UK has reached record high last year: about 606,000 migrants arrived. This is according to data published by the Office for National Statistics yesterday.

Although the data suggests that people are arriving mainly for work, study or humanitarian reasons, this number does not match the Center for Policy Research estimates that potential net migration is between 700,000 and 997,000 people.

The numbers have prompted new pledges from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to cut the number of migrants – the Conservative Party has made a campaign promise to reduce the number of people coming to the UK to live and work – but he acknowledged the difficulties amid the UK’s labor shortage.

On ITV’s This Morning, Sunak said: “We have to consider the needs of the NHS and the economy, but basically the numbers are too high, I’m going to lower them.”

The number of 606,000 is 118,000 more than a year earlier. However, for the first time ONS included asylum seekers, who make up almost a fifth of the total.

This revives long-standing questions about whether the UK’s net migration statistics are on target. ONS estimates used to be based on International Passenger Survey (IPS)questionnaire on tourism and travel conducted at airports, which the ONS has long recognized is flawed.

The majority of people arriving in the UK – an estimated 925,000 people – are non-EU citizens, many of whom came from Ukraine and Hong Kong as part of established humanitarian programmes.

Home Secretary Swella Braverman announced on Tuesday that as of next January, most Foreign students will not be allowed to bring family members with them with them when they come to the UK to study.

IN written statementshe argued that her immigration reform package struck “the right balance between taking strong action against net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK”.

But net migration is not just an economic issue. Today, Reuters reports that a boat carrying 500 migrants, including a newborn baby and pregnant women, has gone missing in the central Mediterranean. The Alarm Phone group, which takes calls from migrant ships, said it lost contact with the boat on Wednesday morning, and yesterday, the Italian NGO Emergency said it had searched unsuccessfully for the missing boat for 24 hours.

Meanwhile, in response to growing pressure over Sunak’s failure to curb migration, Bloomberg reports that the UK government plans to deport thousands of asylum seekers a month from next year.

Disrupted Times will not appear on Monday. The next issue will be in your inbox on Wednesday, May 31st.

What you need to know: the British and European economy

Retail sales in the UK grew more than expected in April, recovering from bad weather hitting spending in March. The number of goods bought in the UK rose by 0.5% between March and April, according to data released today by the ONS. That beat the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters, who had expected a slight rise of 0.3 percent after falling 1 percent m/m in March.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt supported higher interest rates To curb rising inflation even if it sends Britain into recession. He told Sky News: “This is not a compromise between fighting inflation and recession. After all, the only way to sustainable growth is to bring down inflation.”

Ministers also consideration of reforms up to £39 billion Pension Protection Fund which protects the pension plans of companies that could unlock tens of billions of pounds for investment in British business.

british airways start off over 140 flights canceled ahead of the holiday weekend as he struggles to fix a computer glitch that impacted passengers’ ability to check in remotely. This is of little reassurance to people who are hoping to book tickets for the summer holidays and who are already combating rapidly rising costs.

Portugal became the latest European government to consider Huawei too high riskoutlining a potential ban on the Chinese company’s equipment for its 5G network in a political twist that could further hurt Huawei’s ambitions on the continent.

Turkish lira start off fell to 20 against the dollar for the first time as polls predict President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory in the runoff election this weekend. Investors are increasingly concerned that Erdogan’s victory, which has led Turkey for two decades, will lead to the continuation of unconventional policies that economists blame for fueling runaway inflation.

What you need to know: World Economy

US debt ceiling negotiations continue as deadline is approaching With European shares answering optimistically. Both White House officials and Republicans on Capitol Hill suggested the talks went better, as President Joe Biden said yesterday: “Speaker McCarthy and I have had some productive conversations and our staff continues to meet as we speak, to the point – and they are making progress.” However, this does not stop others from calling for it. deep structural reforms.

In a sign of the worsening credit crisis in the US, more large companies take refuge in bankruptcy court as interest rates rise. Eight companies with liabilities greater than $500 million have filed for Chapter 11. bankruptcy in May, with five applications in one 24-hour period last week.

Credit Suisse was sentenced by a Singaporean court to pay $926 million Former Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili. This comes ahead of UBS completing its takeover of the bank as early as next week.

HEYUS President Julie Boland there was a reshuffle in the leadership of the Big Four firm. in the US after a failed plan to spin off its consulting arm, codenamed Everest Project.

Swedish buy now, pay later pioneer Klarna start off halved their losses in the first quarter of 2023. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski says: “We are on track to achieve profitability this year.”

price index for personal consumption expendituresthe Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, which measures how much consumers pay for goods and services, increased by 0.4 percent per month after rising 0.1% in March.

IN Hong Kongfinancial markets are closed due to the Buddha’s birthday holiday, which will also be celebrated tomorrow in South Korea.

What you need to know: business

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon faces sworn questions about him today knowledge of the crimes of Jeffrey Epsteinwho was a client of an American bank. The testimony will take place behind closed doors and will last up to two days. Dimon is expected to travel to China next week for the first time in four years.

Climate activists in Paris ran into the police outside Total Energy meeting of shareholders today as protesters targeting the group’s oil projects tried to block access to the venue. This follows a breach earlier this week Shell shareholders meeting In London.

Meanwhile in Oslo Norway’s $1.4 trillion oil fund sided with climate activists against ExxonMobil And Chevronintroducing targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Investment bank Lazar start off appointed Peter Orszag as the next executive director. Orszag, who joined Lazard in 2016 and leads its financial advisory business, will take over from Ken Jacobs in October.

Troubled New York Law Firm Shearman and Sterling backed by a longtime leader Allen and Overy to Wim Dejong negotiate a $3.4 billion transatlantic mergerwhich, if voted for, would become one of the largest in the industry.

Netflix is deal with approximately 100 million freeloaders changing their attitude towards sharing passwords. The streaming company, which experienced explosive growth until 2020, was defeated by competitors including Disney Plus.

Science Review

FT science writer Anjana Ahuja discusses a controversial new surgical procedure dubbed “partial resurrection‘, which involves restarting the restricted circulation in organ donors who have just been declared deceased.

There is growing concern that one of the sources antibiotic resistance is waste effluents from pharmaceutical plants. The WHO named antibiotic resistance as one of the top 10 global public health threats, causing 1.27 million deaths in 2019 and contributing to 5 million deaths.

Evidence is also accumulating about the dangers of toxic chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) used in semiconductor manufacturing. However, safe alternatives will appear many years later.

good news

Astronauts can be sent into space paused animation, scientists say. In accordance with study published in the journal Nature Metabolism, inaction can be artificially induced in rodents using ultrasonic pulses. Like humans, rats don’t hibernate naturally, so if this technology proves feasible, it’s possible that human hibernation could be artificially activated.

Something for the weekend

Try your hand at range FT Weekend and daily cryptic crossword puzzles.