More migrants have been removed from the UK since Labour was elected than in any other six-month period over the past five years, the government has claimed.
The Home Office announced today that almost 13,460 people had been removed since Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won by a landslide in July.
It claimed the government was “on track” to deliver on its pledge to return more people who do not have a right to stay in the UK halfway through their first year in office than any other six-month period since 2018. The goal would need to be met by early January.
But while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claims her party had “intensified” border security measures since being elected, some 21,306 migrants have arrived by small boat since 5 July – the day after Labour was voted in.
On Thursday alone, there were 609 arrivals, making it the busiest December day for crossings on record.
Some 34,880 people have arrived in the UK on small boats so far this year, up 20% on this time last year but down 22% on 2022.
Image: UK border control at Heathrow Airport. File Pic: Reuters
The Conservatives highlighted the number of Channel crossings is higher than the same period last year, saying Sir Keir and Ms Cooper were “failing to control our borders and should hang their heads in shame”.
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Ms Cooper, who visited Rome yesterday for talks with her Italian counterpart on people-smuggling, pledged a crackdown on “exploitative” illegal working to address “the promise of illegal jobs that are used by criminal smuggling gangs to sell spaces in small boats”.
Why home secretary’s words in Italy will be watched back home with interest
We don’t usually get quite so much information about the home secretary’s bilateral meetings with any foreign counterparts, but Yvette Cooper was quite public with her visit to Italy on Saturday.
She spoke at a political festival hosted by the Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni with the central focus on immigration as well as meeting the Italian interior minister to discuss ways to tackle criminal gangs through breaking down their illicit finance models. We understand they also discussed driving voluntary returns and working with various delivery partners.
It’s the fifth European interior minister Ms Cooper has met this week in a flurry of diplomatic meetings, all with the central point of discussions around irregular immigration. It’s clear the Home Office is trying to prove it’s not only making this issue a priority but that it can deliver on words as well.
Pre-election Labour had focused their immigration message around the cost of the now-scrapped Rwanda deal and their messaging was centred around “smashing the criminal gangs” that operated networks shuttling people on small boats across the Channel. But in recent weeks there has been a shifting of language – instead slogans like “securing borders” have been injected into the rhetoric.
Strong suspicions as to why all this focus on irregular immigration lies with the very real threat from the political right – not the traditional Conservative opposition but further along the scale with Reform UK.
Last election, Reform came second in 98 seats, showing their growing numbers of support. With Reform hot on their heels, backbench MPs especially in the North East and in traditional heartlands once called the “red wall” are becoming increasingly worried about how much and how vigorously Labour should be talking about this issue so the home secretary’s words will be watched back home with interest. It’s not just voters Labour has to convince on delivering their promises on immigration, but their anxious backbenchers as well.
Some of the measures being adopted to crack down on illegal migration include new technology such as body-worn cameras and fingerprint kits, which will be rolled out next year to more than 1,200 immigration enforcement officers to strengthen evidence that can be collected in raids, the government said.
The government also said it launched a new “upstream communications campaign” aimed at debunking lies about job prospects in the UK told by people-smuggling gangs to encourage small boat crossings.
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Why no target on immigration? Politics at Jack and Sam’s
Ms Cooper said: “Illegal working is a blight on our economy. It is deeply exploitative and undercuts those employers who do the right thing and play by the rules.
“Since the election, we have intensified our efforts to crack down on exploitation and illegal working – the number of operations and arrests are up, and we are on track to meet our target of increasing removals to the highest level for five years.”
Matt Vickers, shadow Home Office minister, told Sky News in response to the new figures: “These aren’t good returns because they’re not returning the people who are arriving in the country illegally.
“These are people who were caught on illegal working raids – which is what we brought in while we (the Conservatives) were in office might I add.”
He added the deals with Italy and Albania are “just carrying on what we were doing”.
Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out forming coalitions at a local level with Reform after the council elections next week.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the Conservative leader did however categorically rule out a pact with Nigel Farage’s party on a national level.
“I am not going into any coalition with Nigel Farage… read my lips,” she said.
However, she did not deny that deals could be struck with Reform at a local level, arguing that some councils might be under no overall control and in that case, “you have to do what is right for your local area”.
“You look at the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with independents,” she said. “We’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.
“They [councillors] have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and see how they can deliver for local people.”
She added: “What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch-ups or people planning things before the results are out. They have to do what is right for their communities.”
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A total of 23 councils are up for grabs when voters go to the polls on Thursday 1 May – mostly in places that were once deemed Tory shires, until last year’s general election.
It includes 14 county councils, all but two of which have been Conservative-controlled, as well as eight unitary authorities, all but one of which are Tory.
Ms Badenoch has set expectations low for the Tories, suggesting they could lose all the councils they are contesting.
The last time this set of councils were up for election was in 2021, when the Conservative Party was led by Boris Johnson who was riding high from the COVID vaccine bounce.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Image: Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Image: Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Image: Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
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Image: Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.