Government missed the target on net migration by a long way

By ITV News' Political Correspondent, Lewis Vaughan Jones:

"If we don't deliver, kick us out"... was the Conservative party's suggestion to us, the voters, before the last election.

They committed to cutting net migration to below 100,000. We now know the actual figure is nearly 300,000. In fact, it's higher than when David Cameron came to power. Target missed; by a long way.

This is damaging for the Conservatives and they know it. They've been trying to manage expectations for a while, warning that net immigration would not be as low as they had hoped.

As you would expect, political opponents haven't been backwards in coming forwards. Labour say "no wonder there is so little trust in the government's immigration system." They surely have a point.

But this plays into the hands of UKIP. They described the government's performance as "abject failure". The timing of these figures, in the run up to an election, will surely help their fight on the doorstep.

But we must be clear we separate what's 'bad' and what's 'bad politics'.

This is not a good day for the Conservatives but there are people who think a rise in net immigration points to a growing economy and that, they say, is good for everyone.