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Illegal immigrants total hits 500,000

Official figures have revealed that more than half a million illegal immigrants could be living in the UK.

The first government estimate of the unauthorised migrant population puts the figure between 310,000 and 570,000.

The Home Office said the central estimate for the number of illegal immigrants was 430,000, or 0.7 per cent of the total UK population.

Immigration minister Tony McNulty said: "This is only an estimate and should not be seen as a definite figure.

"No government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who may be in the country illegally.

"By its very nature, it is impossible to quantify accurately, and that remains the case."
Shadow home secretary David Davis said the report "shows unequivocally that the prime minister was wrong when he claimed it was impossible to know how many failed illegal immigrants there are in Britain".

"The fact that there are over 500,000 illegal immigrants living in this country is a shocking indictment of the total shambles that is Labour’s immigration and asylum policy," he added.