Nigel Farage said the Conservative Party deserves to be "wiped out" after net migration to the UK hit a new record high of 504,000.
The number for the 12 months to June this year was revealed by the Office for National Statistics this morning and it is 170,000 more than the previous post-war record of 331,000 in 2015.
Mr Farage, the former leader of the Brexit Party, said: "These net migration figures are hard to take in. 500,000 is nearly double the previous record. The Tories deserve to be wiped out."
The ONS said the 504,000 figure was the result of an "unprecedented" combination of events, including the end of Covid lockdown restrictions and the war in Ukraine, with a surge in visas for foreign nationals to live, study and work in the UK.
The record high will pile the pressure on the Government, with Rishi Sunak having recently insisted he wants to see a reduction in overall migration levels - a long-standing Tory pledge.
Downing Street said at lunchtime that "the Prime Minister is fully committed to bringing overall numbers down and the public rightly expect us to deliver control over our borders".
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