More than 500 people crossed Channel on Friday
On Tuesday, the tally passed 20,000, the earliest point in the calendar year the figure has been reached since data was first collected in 2018, as ministers struggle with their pledge to 'smash the gangs' of people-smugglers who facilitate the journeys.
It comes after reports on Friday that French police officers had used knives to puncture a boat off the French coast.
The Government has repeatedly pushed for French authorities to do more to prevent boats leaving the shore, including changing existing rules to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water.
Those changes have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced a 'crackdown' on immigration enforcement targeting illegal working in the gig economy.
Officers will carry out checks in hotspots across the country where they suspect asylum seekers are working as delivery riders without permission.
It comes after Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat said they would ramp up facial verification and fraud checks over the coming months after conversations with ministers.
Ms Cooper said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages. The British public will not stand for it, and neither will this Government.
'Often those travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by the people-smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in this country, when in reality they end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours.
'We are surging enforcement action against this pull factor, on top of returning 30,000 people with no right to be here and tightening the law through our plan for change.'
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South Wales Argus
4 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
More than 20 arrests at protest in support of banned Palestine Action
The Metropolitan Police posted on X on Saturday afternoon saying officers were responding to the demonstration in Parliament Square and making arrests. Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday which sought to stop the protest group being banned, less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight. Police lead 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt away from the protest site (Jeff Moore/PA) The designation as a terror group means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7 million of damage. The force posted on X saying: 'Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. 'The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. Arrests are being made. 'Further updates will be shared here.' Metropolitan Police officers detain people during the protest (Jeff Moore/PA) The Met later posted: 'UPDATE: Officers have arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. 'They have been taken into custody. 'Palestine Action is a proscribed group and officers will act where criminal offences are committed.' A group had earlier said it was set to gather in Parliament Square on Saturday holding signs supporting Palestine Action, according to campaign group Defend Our Juries. The demo was in support of Palestine Action, organised by the Defend Our Juries group (Pol Allingham/PA) In a letter to the Home Secretary, protesters said: 'We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction, but we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order.' Leslie Tate, 76, a Green councillor from Hertfordshire, said: 'Palestine Action are not a violent organisation, and the proscription is wrong. 'You do know, of course, that they were proscribed by Parliament with two other groups involved – all three at once – so that was a trick to make sure the Bill went through. 'The evidence from their actions that they've taken from the start of Palestine Action is that they all have been non-violent. 'This protest is necessary to defend our democracy, and this is the creeping edge of totalitarianism, frankly. 'We thought they (the police) would probably take pictures of people. It's the obvious thing to do, to photograph them, then they have their identity, rather than make arrests.' Demonstrators rallied in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square, central London (Jeff Moore/PA) Metropolitan Police circled around dozens of protesters standing quietly beneath the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, with placards that said: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'. Occasional chants of 'free Palestine' broke out from the surrounding onlookers, and some criticised the police attending. The protest started at about 1.10pm and officers were seen taking people away shortly after 1.30pm. Reverend Sue Parfitt, 83, who was sat in a camp chair with a placards at her feet, appeared to have been taken away by officers. Metropolitan Police officers speak to 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt during the protest (Jeff Moore/PA) A woman seen lying on the ground in handcuffs was lifted by officers and put in a police van. While flanked by a large group of police, she said calmly: 'Free Palestine, stop the genocide, I oppose genocide, I support the rights of the Palestinian people, I support freedom of speech, I support freedom of assembly.' Several people crowded around to film the arrest as officers placed the woman in the vehicle parked on the road behind the square, before returning to the Mahatma Gandhi statue, where almost no protesters remained. Chants of 'shame' broke out, directed at the police, most of whom had dispersed by 2.10pm. Police lead a protester away from Parliament Square holding a banner in support of Palestine Action (Jeff Moore/PA) Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was 'disgraceful' and that the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'. MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday. Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident at RAF Brize Norton. They appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Reuters
17 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK reestablishes diplomatic ties with Syria as Lammy visits Damascus
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Sky News
27 minutes ago
- Sky News
Police arrest more than 20 protesters on suspicion of terror offences after Palestine Action banned
Police have arrested more than 20 protesters after a ban on the Palestine Action group came into effect. The protest group was officially proscribed as a terrorist organisation from midnight on Saturday after a last-minute legal challenge at the Court of Appeal to delay it failed. The Metropolitan Police said on Saturday afternoon that the protesters had been held on suspicion of committing offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 following a protest in London's Parliament Square. "The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence," the force added. "Arrests are being made." MPs overwhelmingly voted in favour of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to ban the protest group under the legislation on Wednesday and Lords have approved the move. The law change adds Palestine Action to the list of banned organisations along with the likes of al Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah, and makes membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Even wearing a T-shirt or badge with the group's name on attracts a maximum six-month sentence. On Saturday, a large number of Metropolitan Police officers circled around dozens of protesters carrying placards that said: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action". It came after campaign group Defend Our Juries said demonstrators were set to gather in Parliament Square on Saturday holding signs supporting Palestine Action. Officers who attended the protest were met with cries of "Met Police you are puppets of the Zionist state" and "leave them alone". Others were heard shouting: "British police off our streets" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". A woman seen lying on the floor in handcuffs was carried away by officers and put in a police van. She said was heard saying: "Free Palestine, stop the genocide, I oppose genocide, I support the rights of the Palestinian people, I support freedom of speech, I support freedom of assembly". A large group of people crowded around to film the scene. Officers placed her in a vehicle before returning to the square's Mahatma Ghandi statue. Chants of "shame" were directed at the police. Most of the officers dispersed at around 2.10pm. Ms Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action after two Voyager aircraft were allegedly damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June, which police said caused around £7m worth of damage. Even wearing a T-shirt or badge with the group's name on attracts a maximum six-month sentence. On Friday, the High Court heard the decision to ban the group was taken before the aircraft were allegedly damaged and as early as March this year. Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, is seeking to bring a legal challenge against the Home Office with a hearing for permission to bring a judicial review set to take place during the week of 21 July. On Friday, her lawyers applied for "interim relief" to temporarily block the legislation from coming into force until that hearing, arguing the Irish author Sally Rooney, who wrote Normal People, was among supporters who fear the "ramifications". But three judges, including the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, refused refused a bid to pause the ban coming into effect pending any Supreme Court bid at about 10.30pm on Friday, less than two hours before the ban was due to come into force. In their judgment, the judges said: "The role of the court is simply to interpret and apply the law. "The merits of the underlying decision to proscribe a particular group is not a matter for the court... Similarly, it is not a matter for this court to express any views on whether or not the allegations or claims made by Palestine Action are right or wrong." Please refresh the page for the latest version.
