Latest news with #HomeSecretary
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
French police stand back and watch as migrant families including small children pack themselves onto small boats heading across the Channel to the UK
French police stood back and watched as entire families packed themselves into an overcrowded small boat heading across the Channel to the UK this morning. It is thought six migrant boats left France in the first attempt to cross the English Channel in days on Saturday. A group of men and women, which included multiple small children, was seen boarding a dinghy at a beach in Gravelines, which lies between Calais and Dunkirk. But despite the brazen attempt, French police officers were seen standing on the beach and watching on, with one even seeming to take pictures on his phone. After the boat was loaded, French authorities were then pictured escorting a small boat from aboard their own. There have not been any arrivals of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats for a week, the latest Home Office figures show. But 2025 is on course to set a record for Channel crossings, with more than 13,000 people having arrived so far, up 30 percent on the number recorded at this point last year, according to the latest data. It comes after Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to crack down on small boat crossings including with measures targeting smuggling gangs. A group of men and women, which included multiple small children, was seen boarding a dinghy at a beach in Gravelines, which lies between Calais and Dunkirk The Home Secretary has previously said gangs have been taking advantage of a higher number of calm weather days to make crossings. Weather in the UK is set to be balmy on Saturday, with little wind and warm temperatures that could get up to 27C in some areas. The new crossings come just weeks after the Prime Minister announced plans for 'return hubs' to send migrants back to the country they came to the UK from more easily. The Prime Minister is eyeing up deals with Balkan countries, and some in Africa, to house failed asylum seekers. Labour is looking to strike deals with the likes of Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sir Keir had hoped Albania would join the scheme but was left embarrassed earlier this month when he travelled there, only to be publicly rebuffed by PM Edi Rama. Speaking in Albania earlier this month, Sir Keir said: 'What now we want to do and are having discussions of, talks of, is return hubs which is where someone has been through the system in the UK, they need to be returned and we have to make sure they're returned effectively and we'll do that, if we can, through return hubs. 'So that's what the talks are about. I would say in this area no single measure is going to be the measure that is, if you like, a silver bullet. Police officers in France were accused of standing and watching without intervening, with one even spotted appearing to take photographs on his phone A young boy and his family prepare to board a boat in a bid to reach the UK from France A young boy appears nervous as he is held on a small boat transporting refugees and migrants to the UK Criminal gangs are increasingly overloading boats with up to 100 people as they make money from individuals' desperation 'By putting it all together - arrests, seizures, agreements with other countries, returning people who shouldn't be here, and return hubs, if we can through these talks to add to our armoury, will allow us to bear down on this vile trade and to make sure that we stop those people crossing the Channel.' Downing Street said the plans were 'entirely different' to the last government's flagship Rwanda deportation scheme. The new plan will involve sending paying to send potentially thousands of failed asylum seekers to the Balkans, rather than holding them in the UK until they can be removed. In some cases, those involved will be from countries like Afghanistan which are deemed too dangerous to return people to. Sir Keir was criticised by some earlier this month after delivering a speech in which he pledged to crack down on immigration and said the UK was at risk of becoming an 'island of strangers'. But liberals said his words had echoes of Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech in 1968, which was accused of stoking years of racism and division in the UK. Speaking on May 12, Sir Keir said he would give Brits what they had 'asked for time and time again' and 'significantly' reduce eye-watering immigration that has been inflicting 'incalculable damage'. The Home Office estimates the government's package will bring down annual inflows by around 100,000. This figure reached a record of nearly one million under the Tories. A French coastguard boat is seen monitoring a boat packed with people on Saturday morning in the sea off the coast of France The remains of a small boat on the beach in Gravelines, France, following an unsuccessful attempt by people thought to be migrants to reach the UK A group of people including women and young children are seen waiting to try and catch a boat to the UK A young boy cries as he is carried into the sea to a small boat hoping to reach the UK In a pivotal moment, he also rejected the Treasury orthodoxy that high immigration drives growth - pointing out the economy has stagnated in recent years. Under the blueprint, skills thresholds will be hiked and rules on fluency in English toughened. Migrants will also be required to wait 10 years for citizenship rather than the current five, and face deportation for even lower-level crimes. Graduate visas will be reduced to 18 months, and a new levy introduced on income that universities generate from international students. Requirements that sponsoring institutions must meet in order to recruit international students are also being tightened. Official figures showed net long-term inflows into the UK were 431,000 in the year to December, compared with 860,000 across 2023.
The Independent
26-05-2025
- The Independent
Man arrested after car ploughs through crowd at Liverpool's Premier League parade
A Car struck pedestrians during Liverpool FC's Premier League victory Parade on Water Street in Liverpool city centre. The incident occurred around 6pm, with footage showing the vehicle accelerating into the crowd before being stopped by police and bystanders. A 53-year-old man from the Merseyside area was arrested, and Counter Terrorism Policing North West is supporting the investigation led by Merseyside Police. While the number of injuries is unconfirmed, several casualties were seen being treated by emergency services. Witnesses described chaotic scenes. Officials, including the Prime Minister and Home Secretary, expressed concern and thanked emergency responders. The Premier League and Liverpool FC offered support to those affected.
Sky News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Politics latest: PM says Albania partnership is 'delivering security' - but the Tories want credit
Sir Keir Starmer has travelled to Albania to announce an expanded crackdown on migrant smuggling gangs in the Balkans - a key staging post on the route to Britain. But the Conservative shadow home secretary says the Tories agreed the Albania returns deal.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: As I watched Keir Starmer shed every principle he once had for his latest migration 'crackdown', I didn't know whether to laugh or vomit
All you need to know about the latest 'crackdown' on immigration is that had it been proposed by a Conservative government, Surkeir Starmer would have voted against it. So, too, would the Home Secretary Pixie Balls-Cooper, self-styled white saviour of the Syrian refugees she promised to put up in her own home – and then didn't, obviously.
The Independent
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Better English standards and decade in UK to be demanded before citizenship
Migrants will be told they need to spend up to a decade in the UK before they can apply for citizenship and English language requirements will be increased as part of the Government's immigration crackdown. Sir Keir Starmer will promise to 'tighten up' all elements of the system as ministers look to bring down net figures, but are facing pushback against plans to stop foreign recruitment of care workers. The Prime Minister is expected to say that 'enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall' as a result of the policies in the Immigration White Paper, set to be unveiled on Monday. Meanwhile, the Home Secretary has been warned that plans to stop overseas recruitment for care worker visas are 'cruel' , and the head of a nursing union is expected to accuse the Government of 'pandering and scapegoating' with the policy. Yvette Cooper said on Sunday that the overseas recruitment for care worker visas will be stopped, as part of plans to reduce 'lower-skilled' visas by 'up to 50,000' in the next year. Sir Keir has also hinted at a tightening up of the rules around the right to a family life for foreign offenders looking to evade deportation, telling The Sun newspaper 'if you break British law, you give up your right to be here'. Under the white paper proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship, but so-called 'high-contributing' individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system. Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English. Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning that they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language. Meanwhile skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages. Ministers are looking to bring down net migration figures, which stood at 728,000 in the year to mid-2024. 'Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control,' the Prime Minister is expected to say on Monday. 'Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall.' He will say that the system under the reforms will be 'controlled, selective and fair', and will recognise 'those who genuinely contribute to Britain's growth and society, while restoring common sense and control to our borders'. Ms Cooper told Sky News On Sunday that 'we will be closing the care worker visa for overseas recruitment'. Under current rules, to qualify for a care worker visa a person must have a certificate of sponsorship from their employer with information about the role they have been offered in the UK. The Home Secretary told the BBC the rules around the system will change to 'prevent' it being used 'to recruit from abroad' but 'we will allow them to continue to extend visas and also to recruit from more than 10,000 people who came on a care worker visa, where the sponsorship visa was cancelled'. The head of a nursing union is expected to criticise the decision in a keynote speech on Monday. Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing will tell its annual congress that the Government's plans are about 'pandering and scapegoating'. 'The UK is so reliant on overseas colleagues, especially in social care. 'The Government has no plan to grow a domestic workforce. 'This is about politics – pandering and scapegoating. 'It should be about people,' she will say. 'We need an immigration system that works for care staff, nurses and the people who rely on them.' Care England's chief executive Martin Green earlier labelled the Government's plans as 'cruel'. The plans come less than a fortnight after Reform UK surged to victory in local council elections across England, a result that deputy leader Richard Tice has said was 'because people are raging, furious, about the levels of both legal and illegal immigration'. The Conservatives have said that the Prime Minister is 'trying to take steal credit for recent substantial reductions in visa numbers that resulted from Conservative reforms in April 2024'. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp added: 'Starmer is the same man who wrote letters protesting against deporting dangerous foreign criminals and has overseen the worst ever start to a year for illegal immigrants crossing the channel. 'The idea that Starmer is tough on immigration is a joke.'
