Ministers were forced on to the defensive over immigration on Monday night, as the government admitted there are 300,000 more foreign nationals working in the UK than official figures had suggested.

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Chris Giles, economics editor, on how the immigration underestimation suggests the economy may be growing faster

The politically embarrassing error – for which Peter Hain, the work and pensions secretary, apologised to MPs – came as ministers prepared to announce on Tuesday an extension of curbs on Romanian and Bulgarian economic migrants.