Slashing net migration to zero would shrink the economy and require a swathe of tax rises or an increase in borrowing to plug a £37bn funding shortfall, a leading economic think tank has warned, in what is a major blow to Reform UK’s immigration plans.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said such a scenario would “put pressure on the public finances” in its latest economic outlook report, saying that “any net zero migration scenario would not be fiscally sustainable for the UK unless there were significant tax rises”.
