I see neither the sense nor the need to stick to an immigration figure devised nearly a decade ago, which has never been met and does not fit the requirements of the country.

Imagine what we could achieve if we had more Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament in terms of getting a better deal for Britain and negotiating fundamental reform and putting that in a referendum to the British people.

Setting an immigration target reduced to the tens of thousands is one thing when unemployment is running at 8 per cent. Refusing to review it when the country nears full employment and sectors are reporting skills shortages is quite another.

Sajid Javid Quotes