UUP peer Lord Empey raises concerns over 'out of control' immigration after protests in Dublin and Belfast

Thousands of people took part in a major anti-immigration protest through Dublin on Saturday, which was met by a smaller counter protest.

There was also a smaller anti-immigration protest at Belfast City Hall on Sunday, also met by a counter protest.

Lord Empey said: "I'm aware that in London too it's a huge issue and I have to say, I believe the system is out of control. We were told that leaving the European Union would radically reduce immigration, and Boris Johnson managed to more than double it. And in parallel with that, we have a huge housing crisis, particularly here in London, but also at home in Northern Ireland and very much in the Republic too.

"They don't seem to be able to join up the dots between bringing hundreds of 1000s of people into the country and creating a huge housing problem."

"The problem has been that if we take the year to June 24 there was something in the region of 15,000 people a week coming into the UK. Now the vast majority of those were non Europeans, and you just cannot, physically or any other way, integrate that volume of people.

The peer recognised the contribution of migrant workers in sectors like health and social care but noted the “unsustainable volume” of immigration.

But he said most immigration is legal and called on the government to slash the number of visas, also calling for checks on who is leaving the country and who remains here.