LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believes net migration to the United Kingdom is too high and needs to be reduced “significantly”, his spokesman said on Monday.

Annual net migration to the United Kingdom hit a record of 745,000 last year and has stayed at elevated levels since, data showed last month, putting political pressure on Sunak to act to reduce it in the run up to an election expected next year.

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“We think the numbers are too high, they do need to reduce significantly and in the short term,” Sunak’s spokesman said.