‘Get a grip’: Keir Starmer blames Tories for ‘broken’ asylum system in PMQs clash
Sir Keir Starmer has told Rishi Sunak to “start governing for once and get a grip” as he blamed 12 years of Tory leadership on the “broken” asylum system.
The Labour leader questioned how problems the UK is facing could be anyone’s fault but the Conservatives, as the pair clashed on immigration at PMQs.
The Home Office is grappling with a huge backlog in processing asylum claims as record numbers of people continue to cross the Channel on small boats, with the government accused of “presiding over a shambles” amid overcrowding at the Manston processing centre in Kent.
Sir Keir opened PMQs asking: “His Home Secretary says the asylum system is broken. Who broke it?”
Mr Sunak pointed to his party’s record on immigration, saying Brexit has given the UK control of its borders while Labour has “no plan” for immigration.
But Sir Keir hit back that the Conservatives have “lost control of the borders”, adding: “Four prime ministers in five years. It’s the same old, same old, he stands there and tries to pass the blame.
“If the asylum system is broken, and his lot have been in power for 12 years, how can it be anyone’s fault but theirs?”
Sir Keir pointed to the Rwanda deportation scheme, saying it has cost the UK £140m and rising yet “the number of people deported to Rwanda is zero”.
“Since then, 30,000 people have crossed the channel in small boats.
“It’s not working, is it? He hasn’t got a grip.”
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Sunak ‘hammered’ on migration policy
He repeated this attack line several times, while Mr Sunak sought to taunt the Labour leader over his support for his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
Sir Keir also hit out at Suella Braverman, the home secretary, saying that only 4% of people arriving in small boats last year have had their asylum claim processed to date.
He joked that the bookies have Ms Braverman with more chance of “becoming the next Tory leader than processing an asylum claim in a year”.
He also referenced the 4,000 people at the Manston air base – which is only designed to hold 1,600 – asking whether the home secretary received legal advice that she should move people out.
Mr Sunak did not answer the question, but acknowledged the Channel crisis is a “serious and escalating problem” and admitted that “not enough” asylum claims are being processed.
Listing steps the government is taking to “fix this”, the PM said the government has increased the number of processing officials by 80%, procured 4,500 more hotel beds for asylum seekers and appointed a senior general to control the situation at Manston, while increasing staff there.
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“These are significant steps that demonstrate that we are getting a grip of this system,” the PM said.
“We will make sure that we control our borders and we will always do it fairly and compassionately because that is the right thing.”
‘Start governing for once and get a grip’
Sir Keir, in his concluding remarks, turned to the controversial reappointment of Ms Braverman as home secretary, six days after she resigned from the role for breaking the ministerial code.
He said: “I think the answer to the question whether the home secretary received legal advice to move people out of Manston is yes – he just hasn’t got the guts to say. Weak.
“He did a grubby deal with her – putting her in charge of Britain’s security just so that he could dodge an election. She’s broken the ministerial code, lost control of a refugee centre and put our security at risk.”
He added: “She did get one thing right – she finally admitted the Tories have broken the asylum system. Criminal gangs running amok, thousands crossing the Channel in small boats every week, hardly any claims processed.
“So why doesn’t he get a proper home secretary, scrap the Rwanda gimmick, crack down on smuggling gangs, end the small boat crossings, speed up asylum claims and agree an international deal on refugees? Start governing for once and get a grip.”
New pictures show the moment of impact as an Israeli missile hit a Beirut apartment block and exploded.
The block was one of five buildings destroyed by airstrikes on Friday alone.
Israel launched airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut in a fourth consecutive day of intense attacks.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press photographer captured a sequence of images showing an Israeli bomb approaching and hitting a multi-storey apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh area.
Richard Weir, a senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, reviewed the close-up photos to determine what type of weapon was used.
“The bomb and components visible in the photographs, including the strake, wire harness cover, and tail fin section, are consistent with a Mk-84 series 2,000-pound class general purpose bomb equipped with Boeing’s joint directed attack munition tail kit,” he told AP.
Pics: AP
Smoke covers a building that collapses following the strike. Pic: AP
Deadly strikes as bombardment stepped up
Israel stepped up its bombardment this week – an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in US-led diplomacy towards a ceasefire.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. It issued a warning on social media identifying buildings ahead of the strikes.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed five members of the same family in a home in Ain Qana in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon’s state media said.
The report said a mother, father and their three children were killed but didn’t provide their ages.
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Three other Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 32 in different parts of Tyre province on Friday, also in south Lebanon, the report said.
Video footage also showed a building being struck and turning into a cloud of rubble and debris that billowed into Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.
Residents check the site of the airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut. Pic: AP
More than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – most of them since mid-September.
About 27% of those killed were women and children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon from September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.
Friday’s strikes come as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The prime minister appeared to urge Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group.
On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, said that prospects for a ceasefire with Lebanon were the most promising since the conflict began.
The Washington Post reported Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire to deliver an early foreign policy win to his ally, US President-elect Donald Trump.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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