海角大神

As Britain鈥檚 vote on whether to leave the European Union nears, campaigners in favor of a 鈥淏rexit鈥� are using immigration numbers that show through immigration last year to bolster their case.

They argue figures released Thursday by the Office of National Statistics show that Britain鈥檚 current policies have failed to control immigration and that leaving the 28-member bloc is the only option.

Boris Johnson, the former London Mayor and a leading 鈥渓eave鈥� campaigner, called the promises made by Prime Minister David Cameron to cut immigration 鈥渃ynical.鈥�

鈥淵ou see the pressure on public services, you see the waiting lists in hospitals, in GP surgeries and of course in schools,鈥� he told the Associated Press. 鈥淧eople are feeling it and .鈥�

The debate, which has reverberated everywhere from Britain鈥檚 curry houses to stereotypes of the 鈥淧olish plumber鈥� dependent on government assistance, mirrors similar concerns about the impact of immigration roiling Europe and the US.

But the increasingly heated rhetoric 鈥� Mr. Johnson at one point likened the EU鈥檚 aims in to dominate Europe 鈥� has prompted a stronger response from some European officials who had previously approached the 鈥渓eave鈥� campaign cautiously.

In a speech at the G-7 summit in Japan Thursday, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, .

Noting that Johnson had spent time in Brussels as a journalist, Mr. Juncker said he should check in to see 鈥渋f everything he is telling the British people is in line with reality 鈥� I do not think so.鈥�

Throughout the debate, the government has maintained its stance that leaving the EU would for workers. Last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled a study warning that a 鈥渓eave鈥� vote could cost individual households 拢4,300 ($6,100) a year by 2030.

鈥淟eaving the EU is absolutely no panacea or silver bullet,鈥� Home Office minister James Brokenshire told the BBC. He argued that Mr. Cameron鈥檚 renegotiation of membership would crack down on 鈥渟ham marriages鈥� and 鈥渃lose backdoor routes鈥� into the country in order to ease concerns about immigration.

A Financial Times staying in the EU holds a slight advantage over leaving among voters, 46 to 40 percent. Many of the polls reviewed by the paper showed a slight increase in voters favoring a position to stay, though some showed the two positions were neck and neck.

The debate , where cooks from Romania are increasingly coming to replace those from Bangladesh, is one that 鈥渓eave鈥� campaigners have seized on, the BBC reports.

Many British people with roots in Commonwealth countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh say there is a double standard鈥� when it comes to immigration from the EU. For Indian restaurants, more restrictive rules on immigration have made importing workers from Commonwealth countries far more expensive, forcing restaurants to close.

Britain鈥檚 employment minister, Priti Patel, who is a prominent 鈥淟eave鈥� campaigner, has even claimed that a vote to leave the EU is the .

But some are skeptical of that position. 鈥淚f immigration were to be brought down, even by half, there would still be no onus from any politician to say, 'Ok now because we have less people coming from the EU, let's bring in more people from the Commonwealth,'" Jeffrey Ali, head of Le Raj, an Indian restaurant in Surrey, told the BBC. He says he plans to vote to stay in the EU.

Mr. Johnson, who is a fellow member of the prime minister鈥檚 Conservative party, argued that his stance was not anti-immigrant, the government鈥檚 promises to keep immigration to the "tens of thousands" had been a 鈥渕istake.鈥�

The statistics office says there was a 20,000 increase in net migration compared to 2014, a near-record. The 333,000 figure is the difference between people coming to Britain last year 鈥� 630,000 鈥� and 297,000 who left.