in december 2010, may declared that deployment of water cannon by police forces in mainland britain was an operational decision which had been "resisted until now by senior police officers." she rejected their use following the widespread rioting in summer 2011. in 2010, may promised to bring the level of net migration down to less than 100,000. in february 2015, "the independent" reported, "the office for national statistics (ons) announced a net flow of 298,000 migrants to the uk in the 12 months to september 2014—up from 210,000 in the previous year."