Sir,
There is no evidence to suggest that ONS figures under-count the numbers of EU citizens working in the UK by 'as much as 800,000 people' ('You couldn't make it up', 7 September). This claim is based on a misinterpretation of the Labour Force Survey and HMRC tax records which measure different things for different purposes. ONS is confident its own figures are the best sources of information on migration and population in the UK.
Yours
Pete Benton, Acting Deputy National Statistician for Population and Public Policy, Office for National Statistics