Jon Ashworth was grilled over whether Labour want to see immigration “go up or down”. But the Labour candidate went off on a tanget and attacked the Conservatives targets instead of answering the question. Sophy Ridge was forced to ask three times.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, Mr Ashworth said: “A Labour Government will have a balanced, fair approach to immigration.”

Ms Ridge pressed: “What does that mean? Do people want it to go up or down?”

The Labour candidate responded: “What Brandon Lewis is saying, we’ve got these targets, it’s going to go down.

“They’ve never delivered on that. Never!”

Ms Ridge asked again: “But what do you want to do? At least we know what they are aiming for.”

Mr Ashworth added: “The reason they know they haven’t delivered on it is because it’s not a sensible way to run an immigration system.

“You run an immigration system based on the needs of your economy. As we know in the NHS, we’ve always relied on international recruitment.

“The NHS should be allowed to continue to recruit internationally and ethically, of course.

“As I say, if a hospital needs a surgeon, midwife or nurse, they shouldn’t be restricted by the Government.”

Ms Ridge said: “At the risk of sounding a bit like a broken record, would a Labour Government like to see immigration go up or down?

“I’m still confused, I don’t know.”

Mr Ashworth said: “A Labour Government is not going to set an arbitrary target because they’re not credible.”

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His comments come as support for the Tories has surged to 45 percent, increasing the party’s lead over Labour, a new poll has found.

Labour trailed behind on 28 percent, giving the Tories a solid 15-point lead, up from 12 points last week.

The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times showed support for the Lib Dems, whose leader Jo Swinson has vowed to cancel Brexit remained the same.

The poll, which interviewed 1,670 British adults between November 14 and 15, found the Lib Dems stayed on 15 percent.

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