Yvette Cooper blames the weather for record number of small boat crossings

Telegraph

30-03-2025

Britain's border security is dependent on the weather, the Home Secretary has admitted.
Yvette Cooper said the record small boat crossings so far this year reflected the higher number of days than previous years when there was good weather.
'The really unacceptable situation that we're in is because of the way the criminal gangs have taken hold, our border security ends up being dependent on the weather. We cannot continue like this where the number of calm days affects the number of crossings,' she told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.
A record 6,632 migrants have reached the UK this year, up from 4,600 at the same point in 2024. It has coincided with an increase in the number of 'red days' when the calm weather and sea conditions are conducive to crossings from 17 to 42 compared with the same period in 2024.
Ms Cooper blamed the failure of the previous Conservative government for failing to stop the gangs getting a grip. 'We cannot carry on with border security being so dependent on the number of calm days that happen in the Channel. But the reason that is happening is because the criminal gangs still have a deep hold,' she said.
Her comments come ahead of a two-day summit in London this week on organised immigration crime involving ministers, officials and law enforcement agencies from more than 40 countries.
China, the source of many of the engines used in the small boats, and Turkey, where the dinghies are made in backstreet factories, along with source countries from Asia and Africa, are sending delegates to the first major international summit in the UK to tackle the emergency of illegal migration.
'This is a global criminal industry that is worth billions of pounds of exploitation, dangerous crimes that they are committing, and we need that international cooperation in order to bring those gangs down,' said Ms Cooper.
She revealed that the French government's cabinet had now approved that its law enforcement officers can stop migrants' boats at sea for the first time, lifting a ban that has existed since the first dinghies crossed in 2018.
Ms Cooper said the stop tactics in shallow waters would start later this year. They are expected to be led by an elite 70-strong police unit, known as the Compagnie de Marche, which was deployed during last summer's Paris Olympics to northern France and are credited with a 25 per cent reduction in attempted crossings.
'For many years, the previous government tried to persuade France to take action in French waters. That hasn't happened. The French government cabinet has changed the rules so they can now intervene in French waters to prevent these dangerous boat crossings. I think that's really important,' she said.
Ms Cooper said the Government was also prepared to consider 'offshoring' schemes for processing migrants' asylum claims and accommodating failed asylum seekers in 'return hubs' in other countries.
She said the UK had talked to Giorgia Meloni's government in Italy about its plans to process asylum seekers' claims in camps in Albania, with those rejected refused entry to Italy and those accepted granted the right to enter the country.
'I talked to the Italian interior minister about their arrangements that Italy and Albania have set up. We will always look at what works. So we've been very clear about that,' she said.
'But it has to be practical things that will work, not the gimmicks. What we saw was [the conservative government's] Rwanda scheme spend £700 million on sending four volunteers to Rwanda.'
Removed to offshore hubs
Ms Cooper also confirmed that she was talking to the European Commission about its proposals for 'return hubs' where failed asylum seekers could be sent to migrant centres in the western Balkans and other third-party countries.
Any deal would require Britain to pay countries for each failed asylum seeker relocated under the scheme.
It would mean rejected asylum seekers from countries deemed unsafe under UK law, such as Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia, could be removed to the offshore hubs.
Rejected asylum seekers from countries deemed safe under UK law, such as Vietnam, Pakistan and India, could be temporarily detained in the hubs while arrangements were made to deport them to their home country.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'The Home Secretary has her head stuck in the sand about the extent of the challenge on illegal immigration.
'Crossings are up 31 per cent since the election with 2025 the worst year on record. This is the clear impact of cancelling the deterrent and Labour's open-door policy to illegal migration, the crisis requires clear deliverable action.
'That is why, under new leadership, the Conservatives have set out tough plans to crack down on illegal migration, including plans to deport all foreign criminals and repeal the Human Rights Act for immigration matters.
'If Labour was serious about protecting Britain they would back these measures – but instead Labour voted against them.'