Latest news with #Robert Jenrick
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer accused of failing in his mission to 'smash the gangs' as figures show only a tiny fraction of small boat migrants are prosecuted - as the Tories say the smugglers have 'never had it easier'
Keir Starmer was last night accused of failing in his mission to 'smash the gangs'. Figures show that just a tiny fraction of migrants crossing the Channel are being brought to justice. Since Labour 's leader became Prime Minister last July, only 446 people have been charged with any immigration offence, figures published by Parliament have revealed. Over the same period, a record 43,309 migrants have reached Britain after crossing the Channel in more than 700 dinghies. This comes despite Sir Keir vowing to tackle the illegal migration crisis by scrapping Rwanda deportations and focusing on tougher law enforcement instead. The number of those charged includes some offences not related to Channel crossings, so the number of small boat migrants prosecuted was even lower. There were 153 people charged between last July and this June with the key offence of 'assisting entry of illegal immigrant', which is intended to be used against those piloting each vessel, but Labour insisted the numbers have increased on their watch from 118 in the previous 12 months. Tory justice spokesman Robert Jenrick said: 'Keir Starmer boasted he would smash the gangs, but the gangs are laughing at him. They've never had it easier and crossings are up 50 per cent as a result. We're now heading towards being the illegal immigration capital of Europe. 'It's clear Starmer is incapable of stopping the boats and his backbenchers don't want him to. The country cannot go on like this. 'Those that arrive illegally from the safety of France must be swiftly deported so the message is clear: if you break into Britain, you will not get a life here.' He obtained the new figures in Parliamentary written questions after asking ministers how many gangs had been smashed since Labour came to power. In a Commons clash this month, he asked Shabana Mahmood: 'Can the Justice Secretary [Ms Mahmood] tell us how many individuals have been prosecuted for smuggling people in on small boats?' She replied: 'I do not have those figures directly to hand, but I am sure that if they are available, I can write to him with the details.' He accused her of not having 'a clue' about 'one of the biggest challenges facing our country right now' but she shot back 'had he paid any attention, he would know that prosecutions do not fall to the Ministry of Justice; they are dealt with independently through the Crown Prosecution Service'. Latest Home Office figures show another 1,387 people have reached Britain in small boats since last Thursday, taking the total for the calendar year so far to 23,891. A Labour spokesman said: 'Robert Jenrick can reinvent himself as many times as he likes, but he cannot rewrite history. 'With Labour in office, more people were charged with assisting unlawful immigration in our first year in government than in the entire time that Jenrick was in charge of the Immigration System. 'Indeed, we charged more people with that offence in our first three months than he managed in his last six. 'But much more important than Robert Jenrick's failures in the past are the ones he is making now, and we don't just mean screwing up this attempted attack story against Labour. 'If he was truly serious about prosecuting dangerous people smugglers, he would not have voted against our new law to criminalise people who endanger the lives of others in the Channel, and would instead be supporting us to take that action against those who cause women and children to suffocate and drown on overcrowded small boats.'
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Prosecutions of people smugglers tumble under Starmer
Only 150 people smugglers have been prosecuted in the past year despite Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to smash the gangs, figures obtained by the Conservatives show. Some 153 prosecutions were brought for the most serious people-smuggling offence of assisting illegal immigration, a crime that carries a maximum life sentence. Overall, 446 individuals were charged with an immigration offence between July 2024 and June 2025, only 1 per cent of the 43,309 who crossed in small boats during that time. The Tories claimed the prosecutions were the lowest on record apart from a year during the Covid-19 pandemic. They said prosecutions under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 had fluctuated between a low of 274 in 2019-20 and a high of 471 in 2023. However, Labour said the Tories had miscounted. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Keir Starmer boasted he would smash the gangs, but the gangs are laughing at him. ' They've never had it easier and crossings are up 50 per cent as a result. We're now heading towards being the illegal immigration capital of Europe. 'It's clear Starmer is incapable of stopping the boats and his backbenchers don't want him to. The country cannot go on like this - the situation in the Channel is a national security emergency. 'Those that arrive illegally from the safety of France must be swiftly deported so the message is clear: if you break into Britain, you will not get a life here.' A Labour spokesman said: 'Robert Jenrick can reinvent himself as many times as he likes, but he cannot rewrite history. With Labour in office, more people were charged with assisting unlawful immigration in our first year in government than in the entire time that Jenrick was in charge of the Immigration System. Indeed, we charged more people with that offence in our first three months than he managed in his last six. 'But much more important than Robert Jenrick's failures in the past are the ones he is making now, and we don't just mean screwing up this attempted attack story against Labour. 'If he was truly serious about prosecuting dangerous people smugglers, he would not have voted against our new law to criminalise people who endanger the lives of others in the Channel, and would instead be supporting us to take that action against those who cause women and children to suffocate and drown on overcrowded small boats,' they added.
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Fare evasion on the Tube hits highest for six years as Sir Sadiq Khan faces more criticism over 'Lawless London'
A record number of people are being prosecuted for fare dodging on the London Underground as calls continue for a crackdown. Transport for London (TfL) prosecuted 3,691 people on the Tube in 2024-25, which is the highest level for six years. Inspectors also issued 13,118 penalty fare notices (PFNs) - which cost £100 or £50 if paid within 21 days - and 850 written warnings. However, those caught are likely to represent only a small proportion of fare dodgers, with critics claiming the issue has reached 'horrific' levels. Prosecutions also remain lower than 2018-19, when there were 4,919. This year there have been 3,044 prosecutions on the Overground. The issue was thrust into the spotlight when the Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick filmed himself being threatened when he tried to challenge people who were going through barriers without paying. Speaking from Stratford station in East London, he said such behaviour was 'chipping away at society' - as he called on the authorities to go after lawbreakers. Susan Hall, the leader of the City Hall Conservatives, told Sir Sadiq Khan earlier this month that fare dodging had reached 'horrific' levels and called for tougher penalties for serial offenders. Anger has also focused on TikTok influencers who have been sharing videos showing Tube passengers who illegally 'bump' through the station ticket barriers. Young men are filming themselves laughing and joking with each other as they push through the wide-aisle gates in videos liked by hundreds of thousands of viewers. In one clip posted by rapper Stepz, real name Samuel Agyei, he claims that Transport for London (TfL) have 'upgraded the barriers' but still pushes his way through. Another video by a Tiktoker called Tenton, who has 70,000 followers, sees him push through the barriers and ask: 'Mandem, at what age are we gonna stop bumping train?' He says: 'It's getting silly guys because I'm almost finished uni and I'm still bumping train.' As a staff member walks past, he tells them: 'Sorry, you didn't hear that.' Tenton continues: 'Realistically at what age are we gonna stop? When we got grey hairs we're not gonna be bumping train. Do you get it guys? I think the threshold is 25.' A third video by user CFCRocky7 features a man showing women how to push through the barrier at Stratford, with the caption: 'Saving NPCs [non-player characters] from extortionate train fares @Transport for London.' In another video posted by Parafactual, a series of commuters are shown at East Ham walking through the barriers without paying, following customers who do touch out. Similar videos have also appeared on other social media sites such as Instagram. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said: 'The overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare, however there is a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket which is a criminal offence. 'Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network. 'This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.' An estimated 3.4 per cent of passengers did not pay fares between April and December 2024 – and they face a fine of £100 if caught, although this is halved if paid within a fortnight Ms Hayward added: 'Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5 per cent by 2030.' TikTok told MailOnline it has removed videos which violate its community guidelines around criminal behaviour, and has also blocked associated hashtags and search terms related to this. The social media firm's guidelines state that it does not allow content which promotes or provides instructions on how to commit criminal activities that may harm people or property. Between October and December last year, TikTok claims to have proactively removed 97.1 per cent of content which violated its violence and criminal behaviour policies before it was reported to the firm.
BBC News
14-07-2025
- BBC News
Tube fare evasion prosecutions highest since 2019
The number of prosecutions for fare evasion on London Underground has risen to its highest level for six years, figures seen by the BBC for London (TfL) prosecuted 3,691 people on the Tube in 2024-25, and also issued 13,118 penalty fare notices (PFNs) and 850 written the same period, there was a record number of PFNs (12,527) handed out on London Overground but the number of prosecutions (3,044) fell by a third on the previous year. Some 440 warnings were says fare evasion is "not a victimless crime" and "robs Londoners of vital investment", adding that it was "committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5% by 2030". The figures were revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request by BBC request was made after a video was released in May of shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick confronting fare evaders. Tube fare-dodging prosecutions peaked in 2018-19 when there were 4,919, with the number dropping to 3,279 the following the pandemic, prosecutions fell steeply as a result of the much lower passenger numbers across the network. No London Overground passengers were issued PFNs in 2020-21 and just 134 were prosecuted in 2021-22, which TfL said was due to "revenue teams [instead] carrying out the enforcement of government Covid regulations". The number of warnings issued has been steadily rising, with 2023-24 a record year on both the Underground (948) and Overground (887).TfL said it spent nearly £14.2m cracking down on fare dodging across the Tube and £7.7m on the bus network in 2023-24, collecting £1.3m in penalty charges. The level of such spending on the London Overground, Tram network and on the Elizabeth line is unknown because these services are operated by franchisees that outsource their enforcement estimated 3.4% of passengers evaded fares across all services between April and December 2024, a drop of 0.4% on 2023-24, according to TfL. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing, and enforcement, said "the overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare" and that "evasion is unacceptable". He said: "That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network."This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other antisocial behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe."
