STARMER’S 50,000 MIGRANTS MILESTONE A GIFT TO REFORM – Number of migrants in small boats since Labour came to power has reached over 50,000
The number of people crossing the Channel in small boats since Labour came to power has reached over 50,000.
That’s 201 days sooner than when Rishi Sunak reached the same milestone during his premiership, and 664 days sooner than Boris Johnson (although that included the pandemic when crossings dropped).
With repeated promises to “smash the gangs” and a hardening of rhetoric from the prime minister – yesterday he said: “If you come to this country illegally, you will face detention and return” – one would expect that after over a year in office, Starmer would have more to show for it.
However, Labour argues that turning things around will take time and short-term gimmicks are not the answer.
Former home secretary Baroness Jacqui Smith told Sky News it was not Labour’s fault that the people smuggling gangs had managed to embed themselves and their routes all across Europe.
