This black Wednesday things couldn’t get any worse for Sir Keir Starmer as he has been told by the Home Secretary the so-called “one in, one out deal” is not working as the migrants just keep on coming.
Shabana Mahmood admitted on Wednesday that migrants crossing the English Channel might not fall this year as so far 41 472 have arrived on the UK’s shores this year, up from 36,566 in 2024.
Mahmood was asked if sha can ensure the boat crossings will fall, she said, “I would love to be in that position. I can’t guarantee I’m going to be in that position.
“That’s because the measures will take some time to come into effect. We will legislate at the earliest opportunity to change the appeal system, to further restrict the way that Article 8 of the Human Rights Act is interpreted.
“There is a whole range of legislative changes that we have announced, which we are working at pace to draft and get right before we pass them in a Bill – that all necessarily does take some time.”
The Home Secretary said of the migrants, “These people know what we’re up to, with a high degree of knowledge, cohorts we deal with on the organised crime side of things and also the individuals getting on boats.
“It’s quite common for people when they arrive here in the UK to ask which hotel they are going to be in.
“There is an understanding of the system that is quite well developed.
“I imagine these individuals will know it is a pilot that will start small and that it is trying to prove concept. So, has it yet changed their personal calculus? Probably not.
“They can see a change coming. They may well be banking on it not working or not being able to be scaled up.
“We would obviously want to see much larger numbers.”
Mahmood contradicted Starmer saying Brexit is not to blame for the Channel crisis, as the Prime Minister previously called the dinghies “Farage boats,” Mahmood said that Brexit is “responsible” for the Channel crossings.
Mahmood told he Home Affairs Select Committee: “I would just dispute whether Dublin actually worked as was intended.
“I mean, the EU have now themselves created a new pact because their own arrangements were not working as intended, so I would think it’s a bit of a stretch to – I’m sure there’s lots of other debate to be had about the rights and wrongs of Brexit, but is Brexit responsible for the boats?
“I don’t think that’s true.”
This matters because Starmer said in October, “These are Farage boats, in many senses, that are coming across the Channel. “I would gently point out to Nigel Farage and others that before we left the EU, we had a returns agreement with every country in the EU and he told the country it would make no difference if we left. He was wrong about that.”
