Labour and Tories blame each other as small boat arrival numbers for 2025 pass total for 2024
The small boat arrival numbers for 2025 have now passed the figure for the whole of 2024, it has emerged.
GB News says the two Border Force boats arrived at Dover at lunchtime with 150 migrants on board, taking total arrivals this year to 36,886. The figure for 2024 was 36,816.
The Tories say the total number of people who have arrived on small boats since the general election has passed 60,000.
Commenting on the figures, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said:
The floodgates are open, the borders are gone, and the British public are left picking up the pieces. The Channel is now a conveyor belt for illegal immigration, and Keir Starmer is waving them through with taxpayer-funded hotel keys. Rapists, gang members, and foreign offenders are slipping through while the government sits on its hands. British people didn’t vote for an open border experiment.
Philp said the Tories would solve the problem by taking the UK out of the European convention on human rights and removing all people who arrived illegally within a week.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, also issued her own statement on the milestone being passed. She said:
The previous government left our borders in crisis, and we are still living with the consequences. These figures are shameful – the British people deserve better.
This government is taking action. We have detained and removed more than 35,000 who were here illegally. Our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
But it is clear we must go further and faster – removing more of those here illegally, and stopping migrants from making small boat crossings in the first place.
And I have been clear: I will do whatever it takes to restore order to our border.
Here is a Migration Watch UK chart with small boat arrival numbers, but not including today’s update.
Key events
Starmer describes western Balkans as ‘Europe’s crucible – where security is put to test’ as London summit opens
Keir Starmer has described the western Balkans as Europe’s “crucible” as he opened talks with leaders in London that will largely focus on how to tackle the challenge of migration, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister is hosting leaders from the Western Balkan nations of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo as the UK seeks to agree further measures to bring down the number of migrants arriving illegally.
The UK is in ongoing talks with some of the countries to host so-called return hubs where the UK could send failed asylum seekers before they are deported.
Ahead of the summit, Kosovo has reportedly expressed a willingness to host such migrant hubs, while Albania’s prime minister repeated his rejection of them and Montenegro’s appeared to suggest his country was not planning to host but could be swayed by investment in its rail infrastructure.
Keir Starmer said at the top of the meeting of leaders: “The region has been described as the crossroads of Europe, but so often it has also been Europe’s crucible – the place where the security of our continent is put to the test.”
German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Austrian chancellor Christian Stocker were also at the talks alongside ministers from France, Greece and Italy and the European Commission’s Kaja Kallas.
Starmer said talks would focus on security, migration and economic growth and that leaders would discuss how to tackle Russia’s “malign influence”, as well as rooting out corruption and shared issues of migration.
“The western Balkans has long been a vital transit route for the criminal smuggling gangs. You don’t want to see those gangs operating in your territory, and we all suffer the consequences of their action,” he said.
Some 22,000 people were smuggled by gangs last year along routes through the region, which has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe.
Prof Dame Clare Gerarda, a former chair and then president of the Royal College of GPs, and Polly Neate, a former chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, are being made peers, it was announced today. Both of them will sit as independent, non-party peers, and they are being given peerages after being recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, a quango set up to recruit suitable, non-party experts for Lords membership.
Tory HQ defends Katie Lam over mass deportation comments, saying they were broadly in line with official policy
It is not just No 10 that holds a post-PMQs lobby briefing. The Conservatives hold one too. Peter Walker attended today’s. As he reports on Bluesky, the party broadly supported Katie Lam over her deportation comments on Sunday, saying that what she told the Sunday Times was broadly in line with the policy the party proposed in Chris Philp’s immigration and visas bill. Peter says:
Slightly confusing briefing with Badenoch’s spokesman & a Tory press person on their/Katie Lam’s migration plans. Here’s what I could follow:
• Tory policy on revoking indefinite leave to remain is “broadly in line with what Katie said” (they “haven’t seen” her idea it’s extended to EU nationals) ..
• The point of revoking ILR is that you have to be a “net contributor”. But they couldn’t say what this means *and* and policy as I understood it was that you’d lose ILR if you claim benefits at all, irrespective of earlier contributions.
• This would not apply to claiming the state pension BUT
• They can’t say if it would apply to all other benefits eg statutory maternity pay.
• Won’t say if it would apply to people with ILR who have UK national kids and/or spouse.
• Very few answers at all: “There are always going to be fringe cases & the policy will need to be designed very carefully.”
• Defence of the retrospective changing of the rules: “No good parliament can tie the hands of a future parliament.”
• No doubts about the morality of it all: “The Conservative party is clear that immigration was too high under successive governments. We need to bring that down.”
The uncertainty is all the more curious in that the full policy is set out in a “Immigration and Visas Bill” introduced by the Tories earlier this month.
UPDATE: And here is Peter’s story.
Man sent to France under ‘one in, one out’ scheme returns to UK on small boat
A man sent back to France under the “one in, one out” scheme has returned to the UK on a small boat, the Guardian has learned. Diane Taylor has the story.
Corbyn accuses government of ‘lying’ over reasons for Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban
Sundus Abdi
Sundus Abdi is a Guardian reporter.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, has called on Lisa Nandy to withdraw what he described as “grossly misleading” comments about the decision to bar Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa next month.
In a letter sent yesterday, Corbyn said he was “deeply disappointed” in Nandy’s response to an urgent question in parliament on Monday, accusing the culture secretary of conflating a public order decision with antisemitism. The independent MP said his remarks were focused on safety concerns, not religion, and that it was “irresponsible” to imply otherwise.
He wrote:
This is about a group of football fans with a history of racism and violence. This is not about banning Jewish people – and you know full well that none of us would support such a ban. Any attempt to conflate these two issues is not just grossly misleading; it is irresponsible and represents a shameful attempt to exploit the fears and anxieties of Jewish people.
He ended by asking Nandy to “return to the House of Commons to retract your comments”.
Corbyn appeared in a video on X this morning alongside fellow independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, who supported his call for clarification. Khan said: “This had nothing to do with race, religion, creed or background, but everything to do with hooligans.” Corbyn added:
On Monday, Lisa Nandy made disgraceful suggestions that my colleagues in the Independent Alliance group have done anything other than stand up for the safety of the public. Insinuations against my friends will not go unchallenged.
And, on social media, Corbyn said the government and media had been “lying” about the Maccabi ban.
After PMQs Khan used a point of order to raise today’s Guardian report by Vikram Dodd saying that the original police decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from the Villa Park match was based primarily on an assessment saying that the biggest risk of violence came from their fans. On Monday Nandy implied the Israel fans were told to stay away mainly because the police wanted to protect them from antisemitic aggression. He said that the ministerial code required ministers to give accurate and truthful information to parliament. He asked if Nandy would have to correct the record if she had breached the code.
Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, said he did not have the power to require a minister to correct the record. Sometimes he would like that power, he said. But he said the ministerial code was important, and he told Khan he was sure ministers had registered his point.
Labour and Tories blame each other as small boat arrival numbers for 2025 pass total for 2024
The small boat arrival numbers for 2025 have now passed the figure for the whole of 2024, it has emerged.
GB News says the two Border Force boats arrived at Dover at lunchtime with 150 migrants on board, taking total arrivals this year to 36,886. The figure for 2024 was 36,816.
The Tories say the total number of people who have arrived on small boats since the general election has passed 60,000.
Commenting on the figures, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said:
The floodgates are open, the borders are gone, and the British public are left picking up the pieces. The Channel is now a conveyor belt for illegal immigration, and Keir Starmer is waving them through with taxpayer-funded hotel keys. Rapists, gang members, and foreign offenders are slipping through while the government sits on its hands. British people didn’t vote for an open border experiment.
Philp said the Tories would solve the problem by taking the UK out of the European convention on human rights and removing all people who arrived illegally within a week.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, also issued her own statement on the milestone being passed. She said:
The previous government left our borders in crisis, and we are still living with the consequences. These figures are shameful – the British people deserve better.
This government is taking action. We have detained and removed more than 35,000 who were here illegally. Our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
But it is clear we must go further and faster – removing more of those here illegally, and stopping migrants from making small boat crossings in the first place.
And I have been clear: I will do whatever it takes to restore order to our border.
Here is a Migration Watch UK chart with small boat arrival numbers, but not including today’s update.
Western Balkans leaders have arrived at a summit on migration hosted by Sir Keir Starmer in London, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister greeted his counterparts from North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, and Serbia, Đuro Macut, as well as Montenegro’s premier Milojko Spajic, Albania’s Edi Rama, and Borjana Kristo of Bosnia and Herzegovina, outside Lancaster House.
Kosovo’s Albin Kurti, who has reportedly expressed a willingness to host migrant return hubs ahead of the summit, arrived earlier and was greeted by the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper.
Fresh blow for grooming gangs inquiry as Jim Gamble, last candidate publicly in running for chair’s job, pulls out
Jim Gamble, a former police chief and former head the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command centre, who was thought to be the last remaining candidate to chair the grooming gangs inquiry, has withdrawn from contention for the role.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
The grooming gang scandal was one of the darkest moments in this country’s history.
That is why this government is committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover the truth. It is the very least that the victims of these hideous crimes deserve.
We are disappointed that candidates to chair that inquiry have withdrawn. This is an extremely sensitive topic, and we have to take the time to appoint the best person suitable for the role.
The home secretary has been clear: there will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society.
At the start of the week Gamble was reportedly on a shortlist of two for the job. The other candidate, Annie Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth, pulled out on Tuesday.
Starmer says he favours parliamentary scrutiny of Crown Estate leases, including Prince Andrew’s
Keir Starmer told MPs that he favoured a parliamentary inquiry covering Prince Andrew’s housing arrangements at Royal Lodge – the mansion in Windsor which he leases from the Crown Estate on a deal that involves him paying no rent.
But whether the PM is seriously calling for Andrew to be hauled to a parliamentary committee to give evidence in person is less clear.
Starmer was responding to a question from Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader. Davey said:
Given the revelations about Royal Lodge, does the prime minister agree that this house needs to properly scrutinise the Crown Estate to ensure taxpayers’ interests are protected?
The chancellor has said these arrangements are wrong.
So will the prime minister support a select committee inquiry to take evidence from everyone involved – including the current occupant?
And Starmer replied:
Well, it’s important in relation to all properties, Crown properties, that there is proper scrutiny, and I certainly support that.
Asked about this at the post-PMQs lobby briefing, the spokesperson just referred reporters to what Starmer said in the chamber.
In theory, Commons committees can invite whoever they want to give evidence to a hearing relating to an inquiry, and in theory people who refuse to turn up can be held to be in contempt of parliament. But many potential witnesses refuse to appear and – not least because the conventions that constrain parliamentary criticism of the royals – it is fanciful to imagine that Andrew will be up before the public accounts committee any time soon talking about Royal Lodge.
That has not stopped the Liberal Democrats issuing a press released headed: “Prince Andrew should give evidence to Parliament over Royal Lodge.”
Rayner thanks people in the party who have supported her through her career.
She says many of her “honourable friends” are real friends.
And she says she is grateful for the support she received from members of the public.
She ends saying:
I’ll just finish by saying that in each generation it has fallen to a Labour government to strengthen the hand of working people.
In 1945 it was maternity pay and the NHS and homes for heroes out of the ruins of war.
In the 1970s it was Barbara Castle and the fight for equal pay.
And, in the 90s, it was the national minimum wage.
And, despite the opposition, because of the work of this Labour government, we have the opportunity to write a new chapter of justice and fairness for working people.
Now, as tough as politics can be, it is nothing, nothing compared to what thousands of my constituents and this country face every single day.
Backbench or frontbench, elected office is not about us, but about our chance to change the lives of others. From wherever I sit on these benches, I will fight with everything I have to do exactly that.
Rayner says stamp duty error was ‘honestly made mistake’ in personal statement to MPs following her resignation
Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, is making a personal statement to MPs now following her resignation last month.
She says she made a mistake about stamp duty because of trust arrangements relating to her disabled son. She says she hopes the publicity about this will help families in a similar situation who may face a similar problem.
She says it was “an honestly made mistake”.
She says the tax she owes is being paid.
She goes on to talk about her own record in government. She says she knows how important being able to have a secure home is for people. The government wants to put that within reach for people.
She move on to accountability, and specifically mentions the Hillsborough law being passed by the government. She says she knows from her experience dealing with the Grenfell Tower tragedy how important it is to hold people in authority to account.
Nigel Farage took to a side gallery for this week’s PMQs, instead of his usual seat next to other Reform UK MPs, claiming he is a “mere spectator”. As PA Media reports, the Clacton MP sat above the Labour benches with Reform backer Arron Banks.
In a post on social media, Farage said:
Every week at PMQs I am attacked by the PM and Labour MPs, but have no right of reply.
I am just a mere spectator.
So I have decided to spectate from the public gallery today instead.
PMQs – snap verdict
Years ago, when I started doing this live blog and writing snap verdicts after PMQs, I tried to consider how the proceedings might appear, not just to MPs in the chamber, but to a non-partisan, fair-minded, reasonable viewer – ie, to the public at large. Even then, that may have been naive. Now at least one of the main performers at PMQs does not seem to think such an audience exists.
That was clear today because Kemi Badenoch managed to put in what came across as quite a strong performance (Tory commentators liked it – see here and here, for example) without really trying to engage with the arguments at all. Calls for a grooming gangs inquiry took off in the new year (even though prosecutions have been going on for the best part of two decades, and various reports have explored this in considerable detail) because fresh reporting (mainly from GB News) revived a sense that there are grievance and injustices here that have not been fully addressed. It is a story that flourises online, and appeals to people innately suspicious of the state. For Badenoch, it is very comfortable territory.
The inquiry process is clearly in trouble (see 9.11am), and the survivors who have left the oversight panel have clearly lost confidence in the process and it was reasonable for Badenoch to take up their concerns. And there was nothing wrong with gunning for Jess Phillips either. Phillips is under pressure because of this comment she made in a Commons UQ on the inquiry.
We are progressing as swiftly as thoroughness allows. Misinformation undermines this process. Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest and a widening or dilution of the inquiry’s scope are false.
Survivors on the oversight panel like Fiona Gooddard (one of the ones who resigned) say they were consulted explicitly on whether the scope of the inquiry should be extended. Whether or not that would be a “dilution” of the inquiry is arguable, but the government should explain why Phillips said the “widening” claim was false – unless she meant it was false because, while it had been considered, it has now been ruled out.
But Badenoch did not question Starmer in detail on these issues. She could have done, but she didn’t. Instead, she was content just to assert bad faith, over and over again.
And Starmer was trying to address the concerns raised by survivors. His opening statement did this, using similar language to Shabana Mahmood in the Times today. He announced a further, unspecified role for Louise Casey, which is always a sign of this government taking something seriously. (Perhaps she will combine this with being cabinet secretary – see 9.40am.) He also had a good explanation as to why a judge-led inquiry would not be ideal, whacked the Tories on mandatory reporting (see 12.14pm) and (rightly) defended Phillips’s record on child protection (see 12.17pm). A “fair-minded, reasonable viewer” would have concluded that he made a strong case, and that Badenoch should have taken yes for an answer. But God know if there are any of them still out there.
Harpreet Uppal (Lab) raises a knife attack in her constituency, and asks what the government is doing about this.
Starmer says the government has a strategy to tackle the root causes of knife crime.
Alex Mayer (Lab) says during the war Churchill changed the clocks to ensure there was more daylight in the evening. Will the government try “Churchill time” again?
Starmer says he will consider the idea (in the tone of voice that implies he won’t.)
