Latest news with #illegalmigration
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The Daily T: Inside the room as Starmer Trumped at Turnberry
Donald Trump certainly didn't hold back in his advice for Keir Starmer in Scotland today: cut taxes, slash illegal migration, and lose the wind turbines. The men were expected to discuss the situation in Gaza and the US-UK trade deal after a lengthy press conference that became something of a one-man show. The Telegraph's chief US correspondent Rob Crilly was there. Meanwhile there is one story Trump can't seem to shake, even with a trip across the Atlantic: the so-called Epstein files. Maga watcher Curt Mills tells The Daily T that the controversial decision to not release documents about the convicted paedophile could bring down the president.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The secrecy on migrant crime statistics must end
There is nothing more emblematic of Broken Britain than our porous borders. If an island nation can't secure its borders, what can it do for God's sake? Middle England is in revolt at the persistent failure to stop the boats (yes, under multiple governments – as I would be the first to admit). They have been made to endure the costs of illegal migration for far too long and their patience snapped long ago. When I've been in quiet towns this past week, I've heard their worries about asylum hotels. It's the talk at the school gates, at the hairdresser's, in the pub. 'I know you're a father, Mr Jenrick,' a woman said to me, walking her dog beside the harbour in Fareham. 'Would you want an asylum hotel on your street?' I don't want my young daughters to share a neighbourhood with men who broke into this country illegally, about whom we know next to nothing. And I don't want anyone else's family to have it forced upon them either. First and foremost, because they have no right to be here, having entered in flagrant breach of our laws. But it's not just that. They impose economic costs on cash-strapped councils, diverting resources away from Brits in need. They totally change the character of areas. And there's another, darker reason, one that few will confront: small boats are fuelling crime and making everyone less safe. The press reports only seem to get worse: drug dealers, rapists, murderers and even terror suspects are arriving on small boats. If you're unlucky enough to have an asylum hotel in your area, you are almost certain to have been impacted by the petty crime that accompanies them. Somehow it's still a taboo for the Government to admit it publicly. The furthest the Home Office has gone to acknowledge the problem is issuing guidance to migrants in hotels explaining what sexual abuse is and that it's illegal. But sensible countries do not bury their heads in the sand. When I visited the notorious Eagle Pass checkpoint on the US-Mexican border in 2023, America's border force openly displayed the data on the criminal pasts of those they intercepted. In that small section of the border 113 convicted sex offenders had been intercepted that year; across the whole of the southern border they had stopped 15,267 convicted criminals in total. The lesson is that when the unfiltered truth about illegal migration is out there, the authorities have no choice but to respond. This issue propelled Trump to the Presidency with a mandate to end the disorder. Just as in America, the border crisis here is a national security emergency. But instead of trusting the public with the truth, this Labour Government has force-fed the public the lie that the majority of people arriving are women and children. Fact check: 75 per cent have been adult men. In our topsy-turvy world, the British public are asked to deny reality. The facts about crime are covered up because of a toxic combination of bureaucratic inertia and weak leaders who pussyfoot around the truth. It's flat out wrong. I tabled an amendment to lift the veil of secrecy over migrant crime under the last Government and I have just done so again under Keir Starmer. I won't stop until the Ministry of Justice publishes the background of criminals by their nationality, country of birth, visa status, asylum status and their method of entry to the UK. Our membership of outdated international treaties like the ECHR will look trivial when it's clear the safety of our communities – of our children and loved ones – is at stake. We have enough problems with law and order already without making it worse. When the British state finally acknowledges that, they might just be shamed into stopping the boats.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
The writing's on the billboard, PM — nothing works and Labour isn't listening
IT is one of the most iconic images in modern political campaigning — and it could soon be back to haunt Sir Keir Starmer. Giant billboards showing a long dole queue snaking out of a Job Centre with the slogan 'Labour isn't working' captured the nation's attention nearly half a century ago. 3 3 Back before Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, it was used to depict rising unemployment. But today the line could illustrate a myriad of problems engulfing the government. The endless stream of illegal migrants arriving on small boats, for instance. 'Petty' criminals waiting outside stores to begin organised shoplifting sprees. The 6.2million patients on NHS waiting lists or the 1.3million families in England in the queue for social housing. Mass migration's strain on public services is clear for all to see. But in the past few days, people have drawn a more alarming conclusion — that illegal migration and rising crime are linked. This has created a toxic mix of anger, frustration and fear which triggered a series of demos. Women say they no longer feel safe and there is a deepening sense of unease about the large numbers of undocumented young men being moved into local hotels. France claims migrants crossing the Channel on small boats see Britain as an 'El Dorado' — but it's become Hell Dorado for many living here. Growing suspicion Convicts are freed early from overcrowded jails, 90 per cent of bike thefts go unsolved, and shoplifting is up 20 per cent in a year to a 20-year high. Retailers say this is because police refuse to investigate theft of items worth less than £200. That's probably because they are too busy combing through our social media accounts looking for 'hate crimes'. All this, along with the whiff of cannabis on almost every street corner, has led many people to conclude that Britain has become lawless. It is truly staggering that our Prime Minister — a former public prosecutor who prides himself on the rule of law — is presiding over this. Discontent is being fuelled by the growing suspicion that we are importing crime. Migrants staying in taxpayer-funded hotels have joined organised shoplifting gangs which have stolen thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes from top stores. Fury came to a head after an Ethiopian asylum seeker staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. He has denied the offence. Today, The Sun reveals that four in ten people charged over sex attacks in London in the past seven years are foreign nationals. Ministry of Justice figures show Afghans and Eritreans — among the top nationalities arriving by boat — were at least 20 times more likely to account for sexual offence convictions than Brits. Taxpayers footing the £5.7million-a-day bill for migrant hotels face a double whammy when lawyers use legal aid to block the deportation of foreign offenders. It's not just that Labour isn't working. Nothing works and Labour isn't listening A Lebanese man accused of murdering his beauty queen wife, who entered Britain on a small boat, was jailed for nine months for attempting to arrive without valid documents last week. But when he completes his sentence, he is unlikely to be deported as human rights laws will forbid his return home where he could face execution. The public's sense of injustice is magnified when they stage a peaceful protest and hear MPs branding them hard-right agitators. Or when they see cops escorting far-left counter demonstrators to the same migrant hotel. Yet the Government's response to the protests is to set up a police team to monitor social media for anti-migrant comments. People are beginning to make a link between the undesirables coming into Britain unchecked and rising crime Nigel Farage What is different about these demos — and should be ringing alarm bells in Downing Street — is that they are being attended mostly by mums, who are genuinely worried about their own and their children's safety. This is the silent majority who have had enough and think it is time to speak out. Nigel Farage has been quick to spot this simmering resentment and has launched a six-week campaign to highlight rising crime. The Reform UK leader declared: 'People are beginning to make a link between the undesirables coming into Britain unchecked and rising crime. There is also a mounting sense of anger that the establishment is always trying to stop us from having a reasonable debate.' Politics is broken He has promised to spend £17billion on new prisons built on military bases, hire 30,000 extra police and send murderers and paedophiles to serve their sentences in El Salvador. Labour scoffs it is an uncosted plan drawn up on the back of one of Farage's fag packets — but their hoots of derision won't convince those mums protesting outside migrant hotels. They've endured 14 years of Tory rule, and after less than 14 months of Labour have concluded that politics is broken. It's not just that Labour isn't working. Nothing works and Labour isn't listening. Farage now thinks women could win him the next election. Most people joining his bandwagon in the past few days have been female. It was 58 per cent men and 42 per cent women at the general election but now it's a 50-50 split, he says. This is one reason why his party has topped the last 65 opinion polls. The other is a breakdown in trust among voters. They have lost faith in the police. And they feel betrayed by politicians who they perceive as closing down any debate on their concerns and putting the rights of illegal migrants ahead of hard-working Brits. The social contract is in danger of breaking down as all they get in return for paying record taxes is platitudes and promises. Successive governments vowed to 'take back control', 'stop the boats' and 'smash the gangs'. The former human rights lawyer in No10 may not have his heart in tackling the migrant crisis. But he knows if he doesn't, the next line of people he sees will be those queuing up to vote him out of office. THE nanny state is throwing its protective arm around even more aspects of our daily lives. It now offers advice that goes far beyond the familiar 'mind the gap'. Walking through a London rail terminal the other day, I was dazzled by three video screens urging me and my fellow travellers to 'remember to keep drinking water in the hot weather'. A few steps further on another message cautioned: 'Please watch your step. The floor may be wet'. It was probably caused by panicking passengers rushing to rehydrate. While another flashing sign advised those with heavy luggage to use the lifts instead of struggling up and down stairs. Who'd have thought of that? Well, I've got some advice for Network Rail. See it. Say it. Stop it.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Scottish police brace for anti-Trump protests
US President Donald Trump has told the UK to "get its act together" on illegal migration, after landing in Scotland for a five day visit. Trump will open his new golf course and meet with the UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in to discuss trade, the Middle East, Ukraine and AUKUS submarine deal . Scottish police are bracing for thousands of people protesting the President's trip.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
How Trump's Alligator Alcatraz tactic has sent migrant numbers PLUMMETING – while soft-touch UK rolls out the red carpet
COMPARE and contrast the images. At the heart of London's financial centre, comfy mattresses are loaded into a four-star hotel as they prepare for hundreds of special new guests. 13 13 13 No, not well-off tourists here to inject some much-needed cash into the UK's struggling economy, but the latest batch of small boat migrants who have illegally landed, ready to be hosted in style to the tune of £5.5million a day. Meanwhile, 5,000 miles away on an abandoned airport in the bug-ridden and croc-infested Florida Everglades, up to 3,000 illegal migrants are banged up in what Donald Trump calls ' Alligator Alcatraz'. 'The only way out is a one-way flight,' declared the White House when they opened the brutal detention centre, where high-security cages sleep 30 at a time in a swamp-like hellhole. It's been designed for one purpose only: deterring illegal migration. Labour scrapped the only proper deterrent on the table, in a clear signal to those queuing at Calais to carry on crossing with impunity. Harry Cole While Britain rolls out the red carpet for our soaring number of uninvited guests, since January America has seen a comparative border miracle. Crossing attempts on the southern border have plummeted, and those that do make it are rapidly deported. With President Donald Trump landing at Prestwick in Scotland last night before inspecting his golf courses Turnberry and Menie, Sir Keir Starmer will be dropping in for a chat on Monday to talk trade and world peace. But instead, he should bring his notebook and pen and start with a very simple question . . . How has America got a grip of its border crisis, while impotent Britain is humiliated by a daily stream of fresh boats, migrant rapes and assaults, and more tinder box communities on the edge? Migrants REFUSING to leave luxury taxpayer-funded hotels forcing Home Office crackdown Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has embarked on a slew of aggressive and eye-catching immigration clampdowns. From the off, both on the Mexico border and deep into the country's biggest cities, it was made clear there's a new sheriff in town. On the very day Trump was sworn back into the White House, he declared a national emergency, classifying the tens of thousands of monthly arrivals coming through Mexico as an 'invasion'. New sheriff in town Opposition parties have been demanding a similar escalation here in the UK, but so far that has fallen on deaf ears in Downing Street. Rhetoric aside, the US move unlocked millions of dollars of military budget funding to dramatically increase patrols on the border. More than 7,000 troops were sent to the Southern states, with federal agents around the wider country given sweeping immigration powers to detain illegal migrants. After construction of Trump's 'big beautiful wall' was paused by his predecessor Joe Biden, work immediately began again in January, serving as a visual deterrent if nothing else. 13 13 And more significantly, the White House reintroduced rules that non-Mexican asylum seekers must wait in Mexico rather than be allowed to enter the US while their claims are processed. Another Biden-era policy which allowed migrants to use a mobile app to schedule asylum appointments pre-arrival was also scrapped, leaving 30,000 claimants in the lurch. As the new arrivals were squeezed, those already here were ruthlessly targeted, and deportations have been rapidly hiked. Undocumented migrants can now be removed from anywhere in the US without so much as a hearing. While the US government's methods are not for the squeamish, they have clearly been effective. Harry Cole Previously, that strict measure was reserved only for those detained within 100 miles of the border. Compare that to the tens of thousands in the UK put up while their bogus asylum claims, funded by taxpayer legal aid, exhaust appeal after appeal. Turning again to the military, the US air force has gone into deportation overdrive, shipping out thousands of migrants, with more than 1,000 flown out in the first week of the new administration alone. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have arrested more than 300,000 undocumented immigrants in 2025, with a heavy emphasis on those convicted of crime. In the first 50 days of Trump's second presidency, the administration claimed that 32,809 arrests were made, nearly matching the number detained in the entirety of Biden's last year in office. And the highly visual deterrent measures did not stop there. 13 13 13 While Starmer scrapped the Rwanda scheme as his first action in office, the United States has convinced Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador to take deportees, even if they are not their own citizens. Talks with 30 other countries are ongoing, helping the White House to claim that 139,000 immigrants had been deported by April of this year. And did it work? The latest numbers say yes. There were just 7,181 crossings or attempted crossings from Mexico in March, compared to 143,000 in the same month last year. June 2025 saw the lowest number of attempts or crossings in 25 years at just 6,070. And, crucially, all apprehended migrants were either detained or deported, with zero 'releases' into the community. Just contrast that with Britain. In a single day in May, 1,194 migrants landed on the coast of Kent. Billions more spent In Labour's first six months in office, there was a 29 per cent increase in arrivals compared to the previous year. From election day to the end of 2024, 23,242 migrants arrived to enjoy bed and board on the taxpayer. In 2025 — so far — another 21,117 have crossed, up a staggering 56 per cent compared to 2024 and a shocking 75 per cent higher than in 2023. For a new administration that vowed to 'smash the gangs', it's an abject humiliation and comprehensive failure, on course to smash only unwanted records. Excuses range from sunny days to the lazy French not playing ball, but given Starmer's first act as PM and no replacement for Rwanda yet, the blame game rings hollow. Labour scrapped the only proper deterrent on the table, in a clear signal to those queuing at Calais to carry on crossing with impunity. Add to that the lure of Britain's black market, where new arrivals can go from dock to takeaway delivery driver in a matter of hours, and it becomes a national joke. 13 13 13 According to the last available UK figures, there are some 118,000 asylum seekers awaiting decisions, with the hotel bill steady at £5.5million every day. Labour made a big song and dance about the 4,390 deportations in their first six months in office, yet 2,580 were foreign national offenders rather than small boat arrivals. Official Home Office figures have been less forthcoming since then. But with 95 per cent of arrivals attempting to claim asylum, without a dramatic hike in deportations this problem is not going to go away. Despite a Labour manifesto commitment to 'end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds', that target has been kicked into 2029, meaning billions more will be spent until at least the end of the decade. And compare 'Alligator Alcatraz' to how soft-touch Britain pampers those in the asylum queue. This week, we learnt pre-charged debit cards handed to migrants have been used in 6,537 attempts to gamble in bookies or casinos. Illegal black market There are more than 80,000 of these pre-loaded 'Aspen' cards in circulation, topped up every Monday by the Home Office with up to £49 a week for guests using self-catering accommodation. They are meant to give weekly payments so users can buy necessities. In Wandsworth, South West London, where Labour won control of the council last year for the first time in decades, those living in limbo are given perks not available to locals but paid for by locals. While awaiting asylum decisions, new arrivals are given subsidised travel on pay–as-you-go electric bikes at half the normal rate. There's half-price soft play for those that actually brought children, but not much use to the thousands of single men that make up the majority of crossings. 13 And there's even cut-price tickets for literature festivals, local fireworks displays and — I'm not making this up — half-price annual fishing permits to cast off at the local ponds. The French call our asylum system El Dorado, the city of gold, and frankly they have a point. While Donald Trump is doing everything he can to deter migrants, we are handing out freebies, four-star hotel suites and turning all but a blind eye to illegal black-market work. While the US government's methods are not for the squeamish, they have clearly been effective. Sir Keir warned his Cabinet this week that the very social fabric of Britain is starting to fray and social disorder is a major risk among a population that feels ignored on immigration. Well, surely then it's time to get real and take some uncomfortable measures? Yes, Trump is not bound by foreign courts, but he took on his own legal system on many immigration measures and won — something Sir Keir should look into if he really is as worried as he claims about the impact of unfettered crossings and community breakdown. The PM could learn a thing or two from the President, if he's serious.
