Yvette Cooper comments on more than 40,000 people crossing the Channel in small boats under Rishi Sunak

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the news that more than 40,000 people have now crossed the Channel in small boats since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, said:

"This is the Prime Minister who promised the British people he would stop the boats, but has now seen more than 40,000 arrivals on his watch. This is the Prime Minister who said his strategy was working, yet is presiding over the busiest start to a year on record in terms of Channel crossings.

"Under Rishi Sunak, independent reports show our border security has become a farce, billions are being spent on asylum hotels, and the Home Office has just lost thousands of asylum-seekers. Everything this Prime Minister touches fails, and our country deserves better than his weak, incompetent leadership.

"Labour has a plan to fix the Tories’ asylum chaos with a new cross border police unit and a new security partnership with Europol to smash the smuggling gangs. We will end hotel use through fast-track asylum processing and returns. More of the same is not an option."

Ends

Notes:

The Home Office has confirmed that 401 individuals crossed the Channel in small boats on Monday 4 March, making it the busiest day of the year so far for small boat arrivals, overtaking the 358 who arrived on 17 January. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats

Monday's figures take the total number of small boat arrivals since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister to 40,046. He has reached that milestone in exactly 71 weeks (16 months and 9 days), at an average rate of more than 563 per week, almost twice as fast as the same milestone was reached under Boris Johnson (136 weeks, or just over 31 months, a rate of 294 per week).

Monday's figures also take the total of arrivals so far in 2024 to 2,983, a record for this stage of the year, exceeding the number who had arrived by 4 March 2023 (2,953), and a third more than had arrived by this point in 2022 (2,212), which went on to become the record year for small boat arrivals.

There has also been a sharp increase this year in the number of individuals who are setting out on small boats but being rescued by the French authorities early in their journey and taken back to the French coast. Up to 4 March 2024, at least 868 migrants have been rescued in French waters, compared to 490 over the same period in 2023 and 443 in 2022. https://t.co/iQiVHxhlNW

Labour’s five-point plan to reform the asylum system:

1. Crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs, through new Cross-Border Police Unit and deeper security cooperation with Europe

A Labour Government would crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs by introducing stronger powers for the UK’s National Crime Agency to restrict the movement of those suspected of being involved in people smuggling and setting up a new cross-border police unit with officers based in the UK and across Europe to tackle gangs upstream.

That would include officers being posted directly to Europol to collaborate on joint investigations and to identify and seize boats upstream. Labour will also seek to negotiate a new security agreement with Europe, including a replacement to SIS-II, to allow for the real-time sharing of intelligence on people smuggling suspects. To fund this, Labour would redirect spending from the unworkable Rwanda scheme, which the government has admitted is subject to a very high risk of fraud.

2. End hotel use, clear the Tory asylum backlog, and speed up returns to safe countries

Labour will save the taxpayer billions by ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers within 12 months and setting up a new returns unit for safe countries. Labour will recruit over 1,000 Home Office caseworkers to clear the record Tory asylum backlog, and a further 1,000 staff for a new returns unit so that those who do not have a right to stay here can be quickly removed, and we end the use of costly hotels at the taxpayers’ expense. Labour will fast track decisions on applications from safe countries, like India and Albania, which are unlikely to be granted; and establish a new returns unit to reverse the 44% collapse in asylum removals that the Tory Government has overseen since 2010.

3. Reform resettlement routes to stop people being exploited by gangs

Labour would redesign the existing resettlement schemes which are not currently working properly so that they include a clearer process for refugees with family connections in the UK to be considered for resettlement, preventing them being exploited by criminal gangs or making dangerous journeys.

4. New agreement with France and other countries on returns and family reunion

Labour would negotiate a new agreement which includes safe returns and safe family reunions for child refugees.

5. Tackle humanitarian crises at source helping refugees in their region

Labour would work in partnership internationally to address some of the humanitarian crises that are leading people to flee their homes including restoring the 0.7% aid commitment when the fiscal situation allows and strengthening support for the people of Afghanistan, currently the largest group trying to cross the Channel.