British Voters Doubt May's Pledge to Cap Immigration, Poll Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Brexit may have been about “taking back control” of Britain's borders, but most people think Prime Minister Theresa May will miss her target of cutting net migration to the U.K. to less than 100,000, according to an Ipsos MORI poll.

While most people surveyed don't see May achieving her target, almost half think migration should be capped at the level she has proposed. Amid warnings from sectors including engineering that Brexit could lead to a shortage of skilled workers, the respondents said doctors, nurses and academics should be offered special visas, though not baristas or bankers.

“Theresa May shows little sign of overturning the public's long-held skepticism that immigration can be brought down to the tens of thousands,” said Kully Kaur-Ballagan, head of race, faith and cohesion research at Ipsos MORI. “Our data also shows that, even though many are concerned about immigration, the public does differentiate between different types, while remain and leave voters are still divided in their views.”

Respondents were also divided on whether it's worth paying higher prices for goods and services to reduce immigration, according to the online survey of over a thousand British adults. More than two in five Britons would be willing to pay more, but a further 37% say it wouldn't be worth it because of the problems it would cause for businesses and consumers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Charlotte Ryan in London at cryan147@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Flavia Krause-Jackson