Manston staff asked to work overtime amid record number of small boat arrivals
Staff at the controversial Manston migrant processing centre in Kent have been asked to work overtime to deal with the record number of small boat arrivals, the Guardian has learned.
The 11th-hour appeal to staff on Saturday evening to work was circulated by Management And Training Corporation (MTC), one of the Home Office's contractors on the site near Ramsgate, due to concerns about not having enough staff on duty.
More than 1,100 migrants arrived after crossing the Channel on Saturday, the highest number recorded on a single day so far this year. The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 people arrived in 18 boats, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811.
This is 42% higher than the same point last year (10,448) and 95% up from the same point in 2023 (7,610). It is still lower than the highest daily total of 1,305 arrivals since data began in 2018, which was recorded on 3 September 2022.
A source said that staff shortages, particularly for night shifts, were a long running concern at Manston, which has been criticised for keeping people seeking refuge in the UK in squalid and unsafe conditions.
Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, John Healey said: 'Truth is, Britain's lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.'
The defence secretary said it was a 'really big problem' that French police were unable to intervene to intercept boats in shallow waters and that the UK was pressing for France to put new rules into operation so it could intervene.
The record number of crossings has come after a new report revealed that the number of asylum seekers including children jailed for crossing the Channel in small boats has doubled in the last year.
The report, 'I told them the truth', from Border Criminologies and the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford, includes casework information from the NGOs Humans For Rights Network, Captain Support UK and Refugee Legal Support, freedom of information data, court case observations and interviews with some of those jailed.
The research finds that since the previous government introduced the Nationality and Borders Act, which contains the new offence of 'illegal arrival', the number of people convicted of this crime has jumped from 253 between June 2022 and October 2023, to 455 between June 2022 and December 2024. Many of those prosecuted come from conflict zones including Sudan, South Sudan, Libya and Syria.
The report said approximately half of those convicted were accused of steering dinghies across the Channel. Researchers found that many had been forced to do so by smugglers or agreed because they could not afford to pay for a place on a dinghy.
Of those prosecuted since 2022, 29 told the Home Office they were children but were recorded as adults. At last 18 of them spent time in prison cells with adults. Seventeen of the 29 were later accepted to be children, while others are still undergoing the age assessment process by social workers.
Of the 29, all but one are black African, mainly from Sudan and South Sudan.
The report calls for the immediate end to criminalisation of people who have no way of claiming asylum in the UK other than travelling via dinghy or in the back of a lorry.
Yassin, 17, who was prosecuted as an adult and jailed alongside adults for boat steering, despite insisting he was a child, was confirmed to be 17 after a social services age assessment.
He said: 'The time that I spend in there [Elmley prison], I wouldn't wish it on my enemy to spend that time. Really it is bad days, bad days. People think that six months and eight days is easy, but it is not easy. You can lose your mind.'
Home Office sources said that to reduce the likelihood of children being imprisoned as adults for immigration offences, officials had updated guidance to ensure 'age-disputed' cases were identified to the CPS when a referral for prosecution was made.
A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay – and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
'We are introducing new laws which will boost our ability to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal gangs, increase the action we are taking to tackle illegal working, and strengthen the security of our borders.'
MTC has been approached for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
43 minutes ago
- Sky News
'I might not make it': Sarah Jessica Parker on the stress of reading two books a day
Sarah Jessica Parker was the subject of some unwanted headlines over the past few weeks after saying she reads two books a day. While speculation of her reading capabilities circulates, the actress continues the challenging mountain of novels she has to get through in order to be a judge for the Booker Prize. The actress is part of a panel of judges for the literary award which announces the "Booker Dozen" of 12 or 13 books on 29 July, its shortlist on 23 September and the overall winner on 10 November. The winner receives £50,000. "I have one by my side now," Sarah Jessica tells Sky News during an interview for her show And Just Like That. "It's been hard these last two weeks because we've been promoting the show and I thought I would be able to read between interviews, but you can read two words. You can read these three sentences, so I'm feeling very anxious about how many books I have yet to read for our next deliberation," she says. The Sex And The City actress compares the workload to preparing to take an exam. "I've not ever felt this behind, including in high school. Like, I really am not entirely sure how I'm going to read the required amount of books by our next deliberation," she says. "I thought about this last night in bed, that even if I stay up every day and don't sleep, I might not make it. So I'm not sure how. I have to not make dinner for anybody, not do anybody's laundry. I have cut out all tasks. So we'll see. It's pretty fantastic, this burden is pretty wonderful." Turning to her spin-off series, she says she never paid much attention to the cultural impact Sex And The City had on portraying women in their 30s on screen without a rose-tinted lens. "I think we're just always wanting to tell interesting stories," she says. "And the rule in the writing room has been, for as long as I've known, the story can only be as far removed as one person from the writer, so every single story told has either happened to a writer or to a friend or family member or colleague of the writer." She says what makes it real is that the show deals with real moments that happen to women as they age, from children flying the nest to navigating the dating pool. "You don't flat line at 50 or 60. People are living pretty colourful, interesting, exciting lives and they have influence and authority. They're trying new things. They're leaving marriages. They're saying goodbye to kids. They're starting new jobs, they're leaving jobs, and they're getting married, they are widows, there's just endless amounts to talk about and it should be," she says. 'It is insane there aren't more shows like us' Her co-star Kristin Davis agrees and states her main hope for returning was to break certain taboos for women now in their 50s. "It is insane that there aren't more shows like us, you know? I'm hoping that there will be," she says. "It's very interesting that somehow women, especially at a certain age, you're just supposed to just vanish. I don't know where we're supposed to be and that just makes no sense." Sex And The City was 'incredibly white', says Cynthia Nixon For Cynthia Nixon, playing Miranda now as a lesbian character allowed the show to explore the challenges that face people coming out later in life and navigating the world they find themselves in. She says although Sex And The City broke taboos for white women in their 30s, she felt the original iteration of their show wasn't as reflective of the real world as it could have been. "The one thing that didn't really sit well with me in the past was how incredibly white the show was," she says. "So, I think to expand the universe of, you know, who gets to be centred in the show has been a tremendous boon. Whether you're talking about people of colour, whether you're talk about queer people, people of different ages. We used to have a wonderfully fascinating lens, but it was fairly narrow. "We've moved in our view of queer people… for so long, if you wanted to put a gay person on screen, one of the ways to make them palatable was to really emphasise their funniness and I think we have many very funny gay characters, but we're able to, I think, have a more well-rounded view of them."
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Lidl launches new garden plant range with flowers starting from £1.99.
LIDL is launching a new garden plant range with flowers starting from just £1.99. The budget supermarket has unveiled a huge variety of indoor and outdoor plants to help Brits give their gardens a glow-up without breaking the bank. Green-fingered shoppers can snap up British bedding plants and assorted flowering plants, which are perfect for brightening up flowerbeds, hanging baskets and window boxes this summer. The budget blooms start from just £1.99 and are already hitting the famous middle aisle, with more due to land in stores later this week – just in time for the sunny season. From Friday, 7 June, shoppers can pick up gorgeous flowering plants that will brighten your outdoor space from late spring all the way through to autumn, meaning you'll get plenty of bang for your buck. But that's not all. Lidl is also stocking large perennials for just £4.99, and Hibiscus plants for only £6.99, which will add colour and height to any patio or garden display. These prices are incredibly competitive, considering a 9cm potted perennial plant would set you back between £10 at Dobies. Likewise, Waitrose sell Hibiscus plants for £12.99, whilst B&Q sell them for £11.99 - making Lidl the cheapest. The new drop includes hardy plants in vibrant shades of purple, pink, white and yellow - ideal for creating a full, colourful display with minimal effort. And for those looking to spruce up their indoor space, Lidl also has a fresh selection of houseplants and stylish ceramic pots in-store now. The stylish plant allows you to revamp your lounge for just £14.99. Available across stores nationwide, these blooming great buys are expected to fly off shelves, so you'll want to be quick. As always, stock is limited and varies by store, so head to to your local Lidl if you want to dig into these flowery deals. Its also worth calling up ahead to check the items you're after are in stock. Aldi is selling a cheap $4.49 item that will transform your garden into a colorful summer paradise Garden makeover Meanwhile, Lidl isn't the only retailer offering great garden deals this summer. In fact, a Home Bargains buy is said to add a touch of glamour to your garden. The retailer is also selling a budget buy guaranteed to brighten up your space. You can also add a stylish touch to your privacy fence with a B&M buy. Or you can pick up another summer flower favourite from B&Q right now. Shoppers can also nab a £9.99 novelty decor buy that adds character to flowerbeds. A £7 gardening gadget is also available from Home Bargains and is guaranteed to transform your lawn. And Lidl customers can add a "whimsical" touch to their flowerbeds for just £3. Or a £2 B&M buy transforms your patio into an "ambient" paradise this summer. Its always worth comparing prices across different stores to make sure you're bagging the best deals. That's where price comparison tools can come in handy. Websites like Google Shopping let you type in a product name or model number to instantly compare prices across dozens of retailers. How to bag a bargain SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain… Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with. Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks. Sales are when you can pick up a real steal. Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on. Sign up to mailing lists and you'll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too. When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use and are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer. Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping. Bargain hunters can also use B&M's scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out. And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you'll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Spy suspect ‘did not want to leave fortune cookie as calling card'
A British businessman accused of spying for China told an FBI informant not to leave a fortune cookie as a calling card at the scene of a planned assault on a Chinese-American dissident, according to court documents. John Miller, 63, was arrested in April while on a business trip in Belgrade, Serbia, on the orders of the FBI after a sting operation in which he was allegedly caught spying for China and trying to buy military hardware in the US for the People's Liberation Army. Court documents allege that Miller was caught referring to President Xi as 'the boss' in intercepted phone calls, showing he was acting under the 'direction' of Beijing. Miller, who is from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, as well as being a permanent resident of the US, is also alleged to have organised the surveillance and harassment of a Chinese-American artist who was critical of the Chinese regime, telling a henchman to make him an 'offer he can't refuse … like the Godfather'. In one phone call with an FBI informant in October 2023, Miller allegedly suggested attacking the artist and leaving him unable to walk. The artist had created an 'embarrassing' sculpture showing Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, kneeling on sand, naked from the waist up. 'It's the message they give. You know? We're gonna make sure you're not f***ing walking. We're gonna put you in a wheelchair for three f***ing months or something. That's what I'll say. That's it. It's their signature,' he said, according to court documents. Later in the call, he is said to have told the informant: 'The message has to be you ain't walking for a little while motherf***er. Not giving him brain damage. Just lower body damage.' In response, the informant allegedly suggested they 'leave a fortune cookie so they know it was a China man', to which Miller said: 'Oh no they don't want any connection to a China man.' According to the court documents, the informant responded: 'Oh. Leave leave a pork rind.' Miller allegedly replied: 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, make it look like a mugging … And there'd be another message coming.' When asked what the other message was Miller allegedly said that the artist's family could be targeted next. He is claimed to have agreed with the informant that the planned assault was 'absolutely f***ing overkiller' but that it was all about 'what the big fella wants'. Miller was arrested on April 24 in Serbia, where he is being held after being accused of conspiring with a US-based Chinese citizen called Cui Guanghai, 43. The businessman has been charged in the US with interstate stalking, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking, smuggling and violations of the Arms Export Control Act. Miller is accused of conspiring with Cui Guanghai. Both could face up to 40 years in prison if they are convicted If convicted, both Miller and Guanghai, who held a position in the Chinese government, according to documents filed at the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin, face up to 40 years in prison. A 14-page Wisconsin indictment alleges that Miller, a recruitment specialist, was caught in a sting after arms dealers he was negotiating with turned out to be undercover FBI agents. He is accused of attempting to procure equipment including surface-to-air missiles, predator drones and a handheld device for the secure communication of 'classified and sensitive national security information'. A second 67-page indictment, filed in California, accuses Miller and Guanghai, known as 'Jack', of mounting the operation against the artist. Transcripts between Miller and an associate allege they discussed assaulting the artist, either by shooting him or hitting him with a baseball bat. Miller is also alleged to have orchestrated a scheme in which the FBI informant hired actors to stage a pro-China protest against a visit by the president of Taiwan to the US. On Sunday neighbours of Miller's £1.5 million, five-bedroom home described him as a respectable family man who often went to the Far East for business. According to Companies House records, Miller has been a director or a majority shareholder of at least nine firms, including the now-dissolved TEFL Jobs China Ltd. The Foreign Office said: 'We are providing consular assistance to a British national following his arrest in Serbia in April and are in touch with the local authorities and his family.'
