Blitz Bureau
LABOUR and the Conservatives traded blows over migration as figures confirmed more than 150,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats in the last seven years, according to newspaper reports. Boxing Day saw 407 people make the journey in 10 boats, according to Home Office figures published on December 27.
On Christmas Day more than 450 people crossed the Channel in 11 boats. A Home Office source sought to blame the previous government for the figures, saying: “The Tories left an appalling legacy of broken border security.
“We are fixing the foundations with a new Border Security Command, 100 new specialist investigators and new agreements with Europe and beyond to break up the business models of the evil criminal gangs making millions from small boat crossings. “We are increasing removals of those with no right to be here and are clamping down on illegal working.” But shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was “an insult that Labour has allowed 858 illegal immigrants into the country on Christmas Day and Boxing Day”.
“By scrapping the Rwanda deterrent before it started, Labour has let us down. We saw removals deterrents work in Australia,” Philp added. Since Keir Starmer entered No 10 in July after Labour won the election, more than 22,324 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel. He had previously vowed to “treat people smugglers like terrorists”, as he announced extra funding for his border security command.
Setting out his “plan for change” in December, Starmer repeated promises to cut immigration, but stopped short of setting any targets. Immigration did not feature in the six “milestones” he announced, so that voters could “hold our feet to the fire”.
