Sir Keir Starmer says 24,000 people who have ‘no right to be here’ have been returned under Labour
Sir Keir Starmer has said 24,000 people who “have no right to be here” have been returned since Labour took power as he opened the government’s border security summit.
The prime minister said it was the “highest return rate for eight years”.
Politics latest: UK has been ‘soft touch on migration’, says Starmer
Since Labour took office last July, 29,884 people have been detected crossing the Channel on 542 small boats.
A total of 6,642 people crossed between 1 January to 30 March this year – a 43% increase on the same time last year, when the Conservatives were in power.
Crossings this year passed 5,000 on 21 March, a record compared with the previous seven years since the first crossings in 2018 – and 24% higher than 2024, and 36% higher than 2023.
Interior ministers and law enforcement from more than 40 countries, including the US, Iraq, Vietnam and France, are at the summit at Lancaster House in central London.
Meta, X and TikTok representatives are also there to discuss how to tackle the online promotion of illegal migration.
Sir Keir told the gathering he was “angry” about the scale of illegal immigration around the world as he said it was a “massive driver of global insecurity”.
“The truth is, we can only smash these gangs once and for all if we work together,” he said.
“Because this evil trade, it exploits the cracks between our institutions. It pits nations against one another. It profits from our inability at the political level to come together.”
He said people smuggling should be treated as a global security threat similar to terrorism.
“None of these strategies, as you know, are a silver bullet. I know that,” he told the summit.
“But each of them is another tool, an arsenal that we’re building up to smash the gangs once and for all.”
Analysis: Stop the boats, stop Reform UK
In a speech at the organised immigration crime summit, Sir Keir Starmer pointedly told global delegates there is nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye to people smuggling.
This is as much a direct challenge to other nations as it is to those in his party who may be uncomfortable with talk of cracking down on illegal migration and making it harder to claim asylum in the UK.
In an effort to front up to the problem, the PM and home secretary both outlined the deep complexities involved in stopping the boats; interrupting supply chains, financial sanctions on gangs and blocking social media content advertising routes to the UK.
Labour’s message? Bear with us, this is harder than it looks.
But, with public patience wearing dangerously thin on small boats crossings after endless promises from Labour and the Conservatives, and with record numbers crossing the Channel – a 43% rise on this time last year – the prime minister knows he has very little time to persuade the public he can deliver.
Senior government sources tell me they are far more worried about Reform UK denting their vote share than they are about the Conservatives – and the PM’s message today indicates just that.
In his speech, Sir Keir twice cited what he called the unfairness of illegal migration: driving down working people’s wages, terms and conditions, and putting valuable public services under strain.
This shift in tone, directly juxtaposing working people with migrants, feels like a subtle yet significant tilt to voters who may be tempted by Nigel Farage’s rhetoric on migration.
However, we may begin to see some Labour MPs fidgeting in their seats as it is sure to make some of them a little uncomfortable.
Sir Keir appears to be marching up the hill the Tories died on. So will this all too familiar hike prove fatal, or will he succeed where Rishi Sunak failed?
And if Sir Keir does succeed and manages to make a significant dent in the number of small boat crossings before the next general election, Reform may not prove to be as lethal an opponent as first thought.
UK has been a ‘soft touch on migration’
The prime minister criticised the previous Conservative government for allowing illegal migration to soar, saying: “For too long the UK has been a soft touch on migration.”
He said a lack of co-ordination between the police and intelligence agencies had been an “open invitation” for people smugglers to send migrants to the UK.
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Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper at the summit. Pic: PA
Cooper reveals small boats gang tactics
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also spoke at the event, where she revealed some of the horrifying tactics used by gangs smuggling people over to the UK in small boats.
She said they place women and children in the middle of the flimsy rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), and when they collapse due to overcrowding, they fold in and crush them.
“All of your countries will have different stories of the way in which the gangs are exploiting people into sexual exploitation, into slave labour, into crime, the way in which the gangs are using new technology,” she said.
She said they were not just using phones and social media to organise crossings, but also drones to spot border patrols.
“It is governments and not gangs who should be deciding who enters our country,” she said.
Sir Keir also hosted a roundtable discussion joined by border security and asylum minister Dame Angela Eagle, Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt and Home Office, Border Force and National Crime Agency officials.
The PM led a roundtable discussion with UK law enforcement and ministers. Pic: Reuters
Ministers ‘disappointed’ in small boat numbers
Before the summit, Dame Angela told Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast ministers were “disappointed” in the number of small boat crossings in recent months.
She said one reason was more people were being packed into each boat. She also said smuggler gangs have been allowed to grow “very sophisticated” global networks over many years.
Earlier, Ms Cooper announced £30m funding for “high impact operations” by the Border Security Command (BSC) to tackle supply chains, illicit finances and trafficking routes across Europe, the Western Balkans, Asia and Africa.
An additional £3m will be given to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to increase its capacity to prosecute organised international smugglers and to support the BSC to pursue and arrest those responsible for people smuggling operations.
The first known victim of serial paedophile Richard Burrows has told Sky News he regrets not reporting his assault at the time to save others from “falling into the same trap”.
Burrows, 81, will learn his sentence at Chester Crown Court today after being convicted last month of dozens of sexual offences against young boys.
The judge told him it is “inevitable” he might never be released.
The former scout master had spent 27 years on the run, living in what he called “paradise” in Thailand, after stealing the identity of a friend and fleeing the UK when he was due in court in 1997.
A police photo of Burrows from the 1990s. Pic: Cheshire Police
He was arrested when he arrived at Heathrow in March last year.
The trial heard that Burrows had obtained positions of authority and systematically abused boys from the 1960s to the mid-1990s.
He had worked as a housemaster at a school for troubled boys and befriended other youngsters through amateur radio clubs.
One of those was his first victim, aged 14 at the time in the late 1960s, and now 71.
He told Sky News: “It’s been an awfully long time and after 57 years I’ve got to see the results at the end of it.
“It does actually feel like a weight’s been lifted. You hear that expression all through life, but it’s the first time ever really felt it.”
He described Burrows as a “devious, nasty creature”.
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The man, who cannot be identified as he is the victim of a sexual offence, attended Burrows’s trial and delivered a victim impact statement at his sentencing.
He said he wanted to do this because of the regret he carries to this day.
“I wish I’d said something when it happened because I feel that, in retrospect, if I would have said something, then maybe it would have stopped other people from falling into the same trap that I did,” he added.
“But at that time, at that age, I thought I probably wouldn’t have been believed, and I felt too ashamed and embarrassed and even guilty to even mention it to anybody else. So, I didn’t, and I regret not doing that.”
Photos of Burrows in Thailand. Pic: Cheshire Police
The man contacted police after seeing an appeal for help in finding the fugitive Burrows on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme in 2011. It would be another decade before he was arrested.
He said: “I really begrudge him those 27 years. It’s 27 years and he’s just left a trail of wreckage behind him while he’s enjoying himself.
“It’s a shame he’s not got another 27 years to look forward to in jail.”
Although he was the earliest victim on the indictment at Burrows’s trial, like detectives from Cheshire Police, he believes there could be other victims who have not come forward.
He said: “Personally, I don’t think I was the first victim. I think that he was probably fairly well practiced in the art of what he was doing prior to my meeting him.”
Burrows being met by police at Heathrow. Pic: Cheshire Police
Burrows was initially charged in May 1997 but failed to attend a hearing later that year.
He remained on the wanted list until police using facial recognition software matched him to a man using the name Peter Smith. He had stolen the identity of a terminally ill friend to obtain a passport.
After his conviction in March, judge Steven Everett told Burrows he had caused “untold distress and trauma to the victims and their families”.
The UK has joined US forces in attacking a Houthi target in Yemen for the first time since Donald Trump was re-elected.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the strikes took place on Tuesday as part of the government’s response to Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The ministry said careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings used by the Houthis to manufacture the sort of drones used to attack ships, located 15 miles south of the capital Sanaa.
RAF Typhoon FGR4s conducted strikes on several buildings using Paveway IV precision-guided bombs.
The planes had air refuelling support from Voyager tankers.
The ministry said the strike was conducted after dark to reduce the likelihood of civilians being in the area.
All the aircraft returned safely.
John Healey. Pic: Reuters
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “This government will always act in the interests of our national and economic security.
“Royal Air Force Typhoons have successfully conducted strikes against a Houthi military target in Yemen and all UK aircraft and personnel have returned safely to base.
“We conducted these strikes, supported by the US, to degrade Houthi capabilities and prevent further attacks against UK and international shipping.”
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Houthis a ‘persistent threat’ to ‘freedom of navigation’
Mr Healey said Houthi activities in the Red Sea are a “persistent threat” to “freedom of navigation”.
“A 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea has already cost billions, fuelling regional instability and risking economic security for families in the UK,” he said.
“The government is steadfast in our commitment to reinforcing global stability and protecting British working people. I am proud of the dedication and professionalism shown by the service men and women involved in this operation.”
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US intensifies strikes on Houthis
It was the first time UK forces have struck a target in Yemen since May last year, the ministry confirmed.
The US has intensified its strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis under Mr Trump’s presidency, after his re-election in November 2024.
The group began launching attacks on shipping routes in November 2023 saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
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Footage showing people being pulled from rubble has been released by Houthi rebels in Yemen
The strike came after a Houthi-controlled TV channel claimed a US strike killed 68 people at a detention centre for African migrants in Yemen on Monday.
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