Labour's ‘one-in, one-out' migrant deal blasted as ineffective amid surge in small boat crossings
The trial, which starts today, sees up to 50 Channel migrants a week sent back to France while the UK will take in the same number via a legal route.
Detentions are expected to begin within days and removals could start in weeks.
But Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick slammed the plan as 'so watered down'.
He told the BBC he and former PM Rishi Sunak had pushed for France to accept 'every single illegal migrant ' in a deal.
He said: 'The French said no, and said no again to Starmer when he's tried to do the same.
'The answer is to have a proper deterrent — sorting out our human rights laws, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and then ensuring we actually deport everyone.'
Charity visa routes are also being tightened as a Nigerian YouTuber boasted about using them to get into the UK.
Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle admitted it 'looks like' the route is being abused.
Ministers plan to stop universities taking foreign students if they do not prevent courses being used to claim asylum.
More than 25,000 people have already crossed the Channel in 2025 - a record for this point in the year.
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The Guardian
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US immigration to hold 1,000 detainees in Indiana after deal with prison system
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) is expanding its detention capacity by 1,000 beds in Indiana through a partnership with the midwest state's prison system, federal officials announced on Tuesday. Ice will be housing detainees at the Miami correctional center, a prison run by the Indiana department of corrections. The move is part of the US government's rapid expansion of immigration jails after Donald Trump's sweeping spending bill allotted roughly $170bn to Ice, an extraordinary sum making the agency the most heavily funded law enforcement department within the federal government. Kristi Noem, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, said the Indiana facility would be called the 'Speedway Slammer', following last month's opening of the so-called 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration jail in Florida, in collaboration with Ron DeSantis, the state's Republican governor. Noem claimed Tuesday that the Indiana prison would house 'some of the worst of the worst' of undocumented people, echoing DHS' repeated claims about the targets of its enforcement. But records from the jail in the remote Florida Everglades, which critics have called a concentration camp, cast doubts on those assertions. Reporting from the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times last month found more than 250 people detained at the jail who have no criminal convictions or pending charges in the US, despite state and federal officials saying the jail was for 'vicious' and 'deranged psychopaths' facing deportation. Those newspapers also recently reported that a 15-year-old boy with no criminal record was sent to the jail, which is not supposed to house youths – a mistake the jail claimed was due to the boy 'misrepresenting' his age. Florida advocates have alleged that the conditions at the Everglades jail were appalling, with detainees forced to sleep in overcrowded pods where sewage backups led to cages flooded with feces. While officials have denied claims of inhumane treatment, the Trump administration has also promoted the brutality of the facility, including with the widely criticized decision to name the jail 'Alligator Alcatraz, a reference to the remote location in a wetland surrounded by crocodiles, alligators, pythons and mosquitoes. DHS appears to be using a similar tactic with the 'Speedway Slammer' name in Indiana, which Noem promoted with a social media post, saying, 'If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana's Speedway Slammer. Avoid arrest and self deport now.' DHS did not immediately respond to questions about the timeline of the Indiana expansion and how the facility would be run. The Miami correctional facility is a maximum-security prison at a former air force base, roughly 70 miles north of Indianapolis, and has capacity for around 3,100 people, according to the IndyStar newspaper. The Florida jail is run by that state's division of emergency management, an arrangement that has raised alarm among advocates, as journalists found many detainees were housed in the facility even though they were not listed in Ice's database. Mike Braun, Indiana's governor, said in a statement the state was 'taking a comprehensive and collaborative approach to combating illegal immigration' and was 'proud to work with President Trump and Secretary Noem as they remove the worst of the worst'. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Indiana has previously raised alarms about Miami correctional center conditions. In cases filed in 2021, the ACLU said some incarcerated people in segregated housing were forced to live in prolonged darkness, in cells with live electrical wires hanging from fixtures that in some cases shocked the residents. 'We wouldn't tolerate animals being held in such horrifying conditions, how can we tolerate them for people?' the ACLU said in 2021. Corrections officials declined to comment at the time. Annie Goeller, a spokesperson for the Indiana department of correction (IDOC), did not respond to questions about conditions on Tuesday, but said in an email her department was working with the governor to 'partner with federal authorities to enforce immigration laws', adding: 'Details about the partnership and how IDOC can best support those efforts are being determined.' The Indiana move comes as the Trump administration has increasingly sent immigration detainees to federal prisons that house criminal defendants. Those partnerships have reportedly caused chaos behind bars, with immigrants and their lawyers reporting horrific conditions and overcrowding, exacerbating problems for the longterm residents serving sentences. Also on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the DeSantis administration in Florida is planning to build a second immigration detention center. Noem has said the Everglades jail in Florida would be a model for state-run immigration detention centers. And DHS has said that Trump's bill will provide funding for 80,000 new beds for Ice.
The Guardian
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The Independent
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Harry and others criticised in Charity Commission report
The Duke of Sussex and others have been criticised by the Charity Commission for letting a 'damaging' boardroom battle play out in the 'public eye' and harm the reputation of a good cause co-founded by Harry. The charity regulator investigated Sentebale after founders Harry and Prince Seeiso stepped down as its patrons in support of a group of trustees, who resigned following a dispute with board of trustees chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka. The watchdog criticised all parties in the fallout for allowing it to play out publicly and described how all trustees contributed to a 'missed opportunity' to resolve the issues that that led to the serious disagreement that risked undermining public trust in charities generally. Harry's spokesperson attacked the findings, saying the report '…falls troublingly short in many regards, primarily the fact that the consequences of the current chair's actions will not be borne by her – but by the children who rely on Sentebale's support'. Dr Chandauka said: 'The unexpected adverse media campaign that was launched by those who resigned on 24 March 2025 has caused incalculable damage and offers a glimpse of the unacceptable behaviours displayed in private. 'We are emerging not just grateful to have survived, but stronger: more focused, better governed, boldly ambitious and with our dignity intact.' The fallout came after Sentebale's trustees sought in 2023 to introduce a new fundraising strategy, with the dispute arising between Dr Chandauka and some of the trustees and Harry, said the regulator. A war of words followed the resignations with Harry and Seeiso issuing a joint statement in March, describing their decision as 'unthinkable', adding the trustees 'acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down' while 'in turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship'. Dr Chandauka hit back in a television interview accusing the duke of being 'involved' in a 'cover-up' of an investigation about bullying, harassment and misogyny at the organisation and said the 'toxicity' of his brand had impacted the charity which had seen a drop in donors since Harry moved to the US. The regulator, which cannot investigate individual allegations of bullying, found no evidence of systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir at the charity but acknowledged 'the strong perception of ill treatment' felt by some involved. David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: 'Passion for a cause is the bedrock of volunteering and charity, delivering positive impact for millions of people here at home and abroad every day. 'However, in the rare cases when things go wrong, it is often because that very passion has become a weakness rather than a strength. 'Sentebale's problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity's reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity's ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve.' Harry founded charity Sentebale in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help young people and children in southern Africa, particularly those living with HIV and Aids. The duke's spokesperson said Harry would find alternatives to helping the children supported by Sentebale in Lesotho and Botswana. He said: 'As custodians of this once brilliant charity, Prince Seeiso, Prince Harry and the former board of trustees helped grow Sentebale from the seed of an idea to – like its namesake – a flowering force for good. 'With the original mission of Sentebale firmly in mind – and in honour of the legacy he and Prince Seeiso began – the Duke of Sussex will now focus on finding new ways to continue supporting the children of Lesotho and Botswana.' The commission's role as regulator was not to adjudicate on internal charity disputes and the case sought to establish whether the charity's former and current trustees, including the chair, fulfilled their duties under charity law. After conducting its regulatory compliance case the commission found no evidence of 'over-reach' by either the chairwoman or Harry in his role as patron. But the regulator was critical of the charity's lack of clarity in the delegation of powers to the chair, which allowed for misunderstandings to occur, and trustees at the time did not have proper policies to investigate internal complaints – both issues amounted to 'mismanagement' in the running of the charity. The commission has issued a regulatory action plan setting out steps trustees need to take, including implementing an internal dispute policy, improving the charity's complaints and whistle-blowing procedures, and establishing clearer processes for delegating authority on behalf of the charity. Sentebale said in a statement that since the start of the year the senior executive were now established in southern Africa, closer to operations. It said the action plan aligned with the board's thinking with a new internal complaints procedure in place, alongside a code of conduct for trustees and a new approach to the delegation of responsibilities so that roles were clearly defined, including any future patron relationships. Dr Chandauka said: 'Despite the recent turbulence, we will always be inspired by the vision of our founders, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso, who established Sentebale in memory of their precious mothers, Princess Diana and Queen 'Mamohato. 'To all who believe in our mission: please walk with us as Sentebale recovers, renews, and rises to meet the hopes and expectations of the next generation.'
