More than 50,000 migrants have crossed Channel since Keir Starmer became PM: Asylum seeker reaches Britain’s shores every 11 minutes… but minister still insists it’s ‘not our fault’
Small boat crossings under Labour have surged past 50,000 – equivalent to one migrant arriving every 11 minutes.
Yesterday, 474 people illegally entered the UK in eight small boats, taking the total number of migrants to have crossed the Channel since Labour came to power to 50,271 people.
The milestone underscores the failure of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer‘s ‘smash the gangs’ strategy, which critics have long insisted will not work without an effective deterrent for the migrants themselves.
The crossings continued this morning, with extraordinary pictures from Gravelines in northern France showing dozens of migrants rushing into the sea towards an overloaded dinghy.
Migrants in lifejackets were later seen being brought ashore at Dover.
Sir Keir has reached the 50,000 figure faster than previous prime ministers and seven months faster than his predecessor, Rishi Sunak. The Labour leader scrapped his predecessor’s Rwanda scheme as one of his first acts in office.
Asked about the passing of the 50,000 milestone, Labour education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith of Malvern called it ‘unacceptable’ – only to then claim it was the fault of the previous Conservative government.
She told BBC Breakfast: ‘It is an unacceptable number of people. It sort of demonstrates the way over the last six or seven years that the criminal gangs have got an absolute foothold in the tragic trafficking of people across the Channel.’
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour’s promise to ‘smash the criminal boat gangs’ in its manifesto last year was ‘just a slogan’, with crossings now ‘so much worse’ than they were before last year’s vote.
Extraordinary pictures from Gravelines beach in northern France today showed dozens of migrants rushing into the sea towards a dinghy
Migrants were seen desperately trying to board one of the dinghies, with some falling back into the sea
The vast majority of the migrants pictured in France today were young men – reflecting a trend seen in previous crossings
Migrants being brought ashore at Dover this morning after being picked up in the Channel
Earlier this morning, one attempted crossing ended in tragedy when a young woman tried to board a boat but fell off and drowned, according to French media. The woman, believed to be Somalian and aged between 25 and 30, is the 19th migrant to die in the Channel this year.
Before entering Government, Labour had promised to ‘smash the gangs’ to bring numbers down.
The problem had plagued Mr Sunak’s government, which had struck an agreement with Rwanda to send asylum seekers there to have their claims processed.
However it was cancelled under the incoming Labour Government, after only a handful of migrants had gone to the central African country voluntarily.
Ms Cooper claimed the Tories had spent £700 million on it.
Labour’s ‘one in, one out’ deal with France became operational last Wednesday but has done nothing to slow the record number of arrivals.
Migrants – including children – are bussed away for processing after being brought ashore at Dover
Migrants in an overloaded dinghy at Gravelines this afternoon
Some men carried children on their shoulders as they waded towards a smuggler’s dinghy
Crossings have been particularly high in recent days amid the warm weather
Migrants running down the sand dunes onto the beach at Gravelines in northern France
The migrants waited in a group on the beach – apparently under instruction from smugglers
UK officials aim to make referrals for returns to France within three days of a migrant’s arrival by small boat, while French authorities will respond within 14 days.
An approved asylum seeker in France will be brought to the UK under a safe route as part of the exchange.
Yesterday’s figure of 474 arrivals was the highest for one day in August.
Earlier today, Lady Smith told Sky News that Ms Cooper has a tough job to tackle the gangs as she placed responsibility on Mr Sunak and his former ministers.
‘I think it’s tough because the last government enabled this hideous criminal activity to really get its roots into across Europe,’ Lady Smith said.
Speaking on the Isle of Wight, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Labour’s plan to smash the gangs was just a slogan. Things are so much worse since Labour came into office, they have no plans.
‘Their one in, one out scheme isn’t going to work, and what we’re seeing is a lot of local communities having to pay the price and bear the brunt of the Government’s incompetence.’
Asked if the Conservatives could reduce the number of crossings from five figures to zero, Mrs Badenoch replied: ‘I think that we can.’
She added that ‘it wouldn’t happen straight away, but it would happen quickly’.
Mrs Badenoch said: ‘My team are now looking at what we can do in terms of detention centres, but stopping people from coming here in the first place – if they think they’re going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won’t come here.’
The Labour Government has previously set out its intention to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament.
But speaking yesterday during a visit to Epping – which has been the centre of anti-migrant protests – Mrs Badenoch warned that things were likely to get worse as Labour tried to move people out of hotels and into private accommodation.
A number of women and children were also pictured attempting to board dinghies this morning
A group of migrants wading into the sea towards a smugglers boat this morning
She also rounded on Sir Keir’s pledge to deport foreign criminals, pointing out that he tried to stop flights when the Tories were in power.
Labour has announced plans to deport foreign criminals as soon as they are sentenced, and before they can appeal, to free up much-needed space in prisons.
But Mrs Badenoch said: ‘When we were deporting criminals, Keir Starmer was writing letters trying to stop our deportations, so I’ll believe it when I see it.
‘This is the sort of stuff they should have been doing on day one. The fact that they tried to stop deportations before means I don’t really believe it.
‘The Government has released 26,000 prisoners since they came to power, released them early, there are now more criminals on our streets, that’s what I’m really worried about.’
Some of the boats appeared to be flimsy and dangerously overcrowded
Her trip to Essex followed weeks of protests at the Bell Hotel, which hosts migrants, after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl
Kemi Badenoch has suggested migrants should be homed in ‘camps’ as an alternative to hotels
In 2020, Sir Keir, then a shadow minister, wrote to then prime minister Boris Johnson calling for charter flights from the UK to Jamaica to be suspended.
He co-signed the letter saying he had ‘grave concern’ over the Home Office plans to deport 50 people to Jamaica by charter flight on February 11, 2020.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer entered No 10 on July 5 last year, having secured a Labour victory with 412 Commons seats, ending 14 years in government for the Conservatives, who won 121.
