Keir Starmer is criticised for making 'deeply dishonest' claims about Labour's record on small boats after PM's boast that 'almost 30,000 people' had been removed from Britain
For once Sir Keir Starmer was in tune with the mood of the country when he said he was 'angry' after more than 1,000 Channel migrants arrived over the weekend.
But the Prime Minister was made to look foolish after being criticised for making 'deeply dishonest' claims about Labour's record on small boats.
Sir Keir boasted in an online post that 'almost 30,000 people' had been removed from the UK. However, this figure refers to all types of foreign nationals who have no right to live in the UK rather than those who arrive by crossing the Channel.
The number of small boat migrants removed in the 12 months to March fell three per cent year-on-year to 2,240. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'This is deeply dishonest.
'The number of removals of small boat arrivals has actually gone down under Labour.'
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir's claims were 'rubbish'.
Some 1,195 Channel migrants arrived in the UK from northern France on Saturday – the fifth-highest daily total since the crisis began in 2018.
The Prime Minister scrapped the Tories' Rwanda scheme, which was designed to deter migrants from crossing, as one of his first acts in office.
Since Labour came to power 38,053 migrants have reached Britain, up a third on the same period in 2023-24, when the figure was 28,452.
Officials have privately admitted that internal Home Office assessments indicate Labour is on course to preside over the worst year for Channel crossings.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK which campaigns for tougher border controls, accused Sir Keir of attempting to 'intentionally mislead the public'.
He added: 'The PM's suggestion that 30,000 Channel migrants have been removed is simply not true.'
Tory Justice spokesman Robert Jenrick said: 'His fantasy statistics take the public for fools.
'They can see through his smoke and mirrors. Starmer has lost control of our borders.'
It comes as Home Office insiders have urged France to 'step up' and fulfil a promise to intercept dinghies at sea.
There is frustration within Labour at slow French progress in amending its rules so boats can be stopped once they are in the water, the Mail understands.
France first pledged the change earlier this year but has still not completed a legal review, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs on Monday.
A Home Office source said: 'The French committed to intervene in the water in February, it's about time they stepped up and did what they've told us they're going to do.'
Ms Cooper said in the Commons: 'A French maritime review is looking at what new operational tactics they will use, and we are urging France to complete this review and implement the changes as swiftly as possible.'
Ministers have blamed fine weather for the increase in arrivals, with officials saying there have been twice as many days when the Channel is able to be crossed by dinghies compared with last year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
16 minutes ago
- BBC News
Textor would sell shares to help Palace play European football
Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor would be willing to sell his shares to his fellow owners in a cut-price deal to allow the club to play in this season's Europa League, according to sources close to Eagle rules forbid individuals from being involved with more than one club in the same competition to avoid conflicts of Football, the multi-club group owned by Textor, owns a majority stake in Ligue 1 side Lyon, who have also qualified for next season's four Palace partners of Textor, Steve Parish, Josh Harris and David Blitzer were in Switzerland on Tuesday to discuss Palace's participation in the Europa League. Textor was hoping to show Uefa officials he did not have a controlling interest in the meeting ended without a decision, but it is understood from sources with knowledge of the situation that a final ruling from European football's governing body should come in the next week or qualified for the Europa League by beating Manchester City to win the FA Cup. Lyon finished sixth in the French top flight to initially gain a spot in the Uefa Conference League, but were given a Europa League place after Paris St-Germain - already qualified for the Champions League - won the Coupe de Eagle Football, Textor owns around 45% of Palace and 90% of Football also has controlling interests in Brazilian club Botafogo and Belgian side RWD are not part of Eagle Football's multi-club organisation and have not signed a player from any of those clubs, although Jake O'Brien, now at Everton, did move to Lyon from their initially invested £90m into Crystal Palace in 2021 and that initial investment helped to complete the academy and bring the age of the squad the club's increase in stature, a development of talent such as Eberechi Eze along with their FA Cup success, it is understood the American would be looking for a lot more return on his original has tried to purchase a controlling stake in Palace in the past as it is thought he would prefer to have overall control of the club. However, he has more recently tried to buy Everton and also sought a buyer for his Palace shares. In an interview with the BBC last year he said he does not run Palace - chairman and co-owner Parish does - although he can share his views. He also conceded the pair disagree on their views over multi-club is understood Textor believes in respect of the football department, and he is not entitled to a vote on footballing did, though, play a part in bringing in current manager Oliver Glasner last lack of overall control has meant Textor's position has now moved from wanting to buy Palace to telling the partners he would make his shares available - and sell at under 25% of their market value if it meant the difference between Palace playing in Europe or Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis recently diluted his control at the club by placing his shares in a blind trust, when it looked like both Forest and Olympiakos - another club the Greek businessman owned - may both qualify for the Champions sources close to Eagle Football believe putting those Palace shares in a 'blind trust' is not an option as Textor and Eagle Football do not have decisive influence over the Selhurst Park Palace and Uefa were both approached for comment.
The Sun
17 minutes ago
- The Sun
Madeleine McCann search LIVE: Cops deploy radar scanner and JCB at derelict barn as major hunt intensifies
MADELEINE McCann cops have a deployed a radar scanner and JCB digger in the "now or never" search for the missing tot. The advanced scanner will show what lies 15ft underground in Praia da Luz, Portugal, where Madeleine vanished from a holiday flat in 2007 aged three. 4 4 4 4 Pictures show a large yellow backhoe being used to excavate a site in the scrubland known as prime suspect Christian Brueckner's "rat run". The Sun team on the ground saw the excavator pulling back earth as the number of cops on site has doubled on day two of the search. Radar equipment was also seen in use for the first time today, with derelict barns cleared earlier in preparation for the scanning. In one, visited by The Sun, piles of rubble had been thrown out of the building, leaving a clear floor ready for the ground radar. At least five different abandoned buildings were being searched today. The search today extended to two more derelict barns, in the same area of scrubland. It comes after we revealed key figures in the case were flown back to Germany to give further at statements on the claims Brueckner kidnapped and killed the toddler in 2007. At least two of these former Brueckner associates have since been relocated and given new mobile phones. The ongoing searches are understood to be linked to the secret meetings, which took place at the start of the year. On Tuesday, officers concentrated their efforts on a ramshackle property and a well, located in southern Portugal just a few miles from Praia da Luz. Searchers were scouring the dilapidated farmhouse and draining a well within secluded shrubland just outside of the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz. What appear to be boxes of soil and debris were being removed from the hillside on Tuesday as cops used chainsaws to cut through roots and undergrowth to access the soil. Prolific thief Brueckner used the bushy area near his cottage back in 2007 as a rat run. A police theory is the three-year-old or her pyjamas might have been dumped in trenches near the holiday resort that were dug as part of extensive works at the time. Brueckner is set for release from jail in September after serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a 2005 Praia da Luz rape. He has never been formally charged over Madeleine's disappearance and denies any involvement. By Annabel Bate First pics of new search revealed
Telegraph
18 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Labour forced to cancel Chancellor's £5,000-a-head conference
Labour has cancelled a summit for business leaders charging £5,000 a head amid reports of low demand. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, was expected to address executives and lobbyists at the conference in central London in three weeks. It was supposed to be the first in a series of special events offering a 'unique opportunity' for businesses to 'engage with Labour's plan to kick-start economic growth '. But it has now been postponed after several firms decided to skip it, according to the Financial Times, with leaders put off partly by the cost. It comes after Labour cancelled another audience with the Chancellor in March, two weeks before it was set to take place, with tickets said to cost £1,500. On Wednesday, Ms Reeves was grilled on whether Labour was treating companies like a 'cash point', with firms reportedly becoming 'jaded' about 'constant requests' for money. It points to an increasingly strained relationship with the sector in the wake of the Chancellor's tax raid on businesses last year. Taking questions after a speech in Greater Manchester, Ms Reeves was told that companies were getting 'increasingly jaded by constant requests for cash from the party in the name of business engagement'. Asked if Labour was treating businesses like a 'cash point', she said: 'I think that it's well known that I regularly meet British businesses in my capacity as Chancellor, also as a local MP, and when I'm on visits right around the country, and I am doing right now at this great bus company in Rochdale. 'So I don't think that it's a valid criticism of me as Chancellor, that I don't spend enough time with business.' The decision to pull the June event was seized upon by the Tories, who joked that charging firms for access while hiking their taxes did not amount to a 'great sales pitch'. The Financial Times said that several lobbyists had decided not to attend in part because of the cost. In March, Labour reportedly raised the price per head from £3,000 to £5,000. One senior figure at a FTSE 100 firm told the newspaper that 'none of our team is going', while another lobbyist said they had 'no clients planning to attend' and a third said businesses were 'getting stricter about what they spend on'. A Labour Party spokesman said: 'The Labour Party regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders and events are frequently scheduled throughout the year, which receive a high level of interest.'
