Rishi Sunak has blamed high levels of net migration on Boris Johnson, saying he had “inherited these very large numbers” that he was determined to bring down. The prime minister vowed to “do what is necessary” to bring net migration down, as he comes under pressure from the right of his party to reduce the number of new arrivals to the UK before the next election. Revised estimates showed last week that net migration reached a record 745,000 in 2022, after post-Brexit changes to the immigration system brought in under Boris Johnson. Net migration for the year to June 2023 is estimated to have been slightly lower, at 672,000. Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has since claimed that he tried to push for a plan to cut net migration a year ago, and Conservative backbenchers are applying pressure for a more sweeping overhaul of the visa system. His comments appeared to express frustration with the government’s failure to adopt his suggestions to curb overall migration in line with a 2019 manifesto pledge to bring levels down below 250,000. It has been reported that Jenrick has his own five-point plan that he has presented to No 10. Asked if he had blocked Jenrick’s plan to cut net migration a year ago and whether he backed the idea of an overall cap, Sunak said: “We have taken significant action already but we are prepared to do more. “We are clamping down on the number of dependants that people who are students coming here can bring – that will impact over 150,000 student dependants, it’s a very significant measure which is coming in next year. We’ve raised visa fees across the board by up to 35%.” Sunak said he had “inherited” the figures from his predecessors but he was “determined” to bring them back down to “sustainable levels”. During a visit to Guildford, Surrey on Thursday, he told reporters: “The levels of legal migration to this country are simply too high. “I’ve inherited these very large numbers and I’m determined to do what is necessary to bring them back down to sustainable levels.” He said the government was examining independent advice and “will bring forward measures to bring down the levels of migration”, which “put unsustainable pressure on public services”. The government is considering cutting the number of dependants that foreign care workers are allowed to bring in to the UK. However, experts have warned that severe restrictions on migration could harm the economy at a time of staff shortages in key sectors. Suella Braverman, who was sacked as home secretary, has claimed that the PM reneged on a deal to implement policies such as caps on the number of work visas or increasing minimum salary levels while she was in office. Sunak, backed by the foreign secretary, David Cameron, and James Cleverly, the home secretary, is believed to be reluctant to give in to demands to block human rights laws so asylum seekers can be sent to Rwanda.