News Beat
Labour admit ‘small boats plan’ is NOT working as 40,000 migrants cross Channel this year
LABOUR admit their plan to stop Channel small boats isn’t working — as the total of migrants crossing this year hit 40,000.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood conceded efforts to smash the smuggling gangs were in trouble nearly 18 months after the party came to power.
The confession came as more than 700 migrants made the perilous journey in 11 boats on Saturday following a 28-day run of no arrivals.
Witnesses said between 55 and 80 people were crammed into the 40ft-long inflatable boats.
Asked if she’d begun to solve the issue, Ms Mahmood told Sky News: “Not yet.”
She said: “We are working very closely with our partners in France, particularly in the north of France. But actually further upstream in Europe as well.”
Britain agreed with France in 2023 to hand over £500million for extra cops and a new detention centre.
PM Sir Keir Starmer also injected £100million into the flagship “one-in, one-out” returns deal, but only 150 have been sent back to France.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp blasted Labour for axing the Tories’ Rwanda idea, saying: “Illegal crossings are at record levels in 2025, with more than 40,000 people crossing this year alone.
“And today the Home Secretary admitted the plan is ‘not yet’ working. This is the direct result of Labour scrapping our deterrent.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the problem centred on Labour’s refusal to quit the European Convention on Human Rights.
He added: “So the problem will continue.”
Protesters marched through Crowborough, East Sussex, for the sixth weekend in a row over Home Office plans to house 500 male migrants in an army barracks.
