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Curbing the power of judges in asylum cases to tackle the migrant hotel crisis is a typical Keir Starmer response to a problem.

The former director of public prosecutions would appear to see overhauling court procedures and the legal process as the answer to any tricky situation.

Yes, the proposed fast-track asylum appeals process is fine as far as it goes. But for a government confronted with a massive migrant crisis, opponents claim it’s mere tinkering.

And welcome and worthy as it is, it isn’t going to “smash the gangs”, stop the boats or act as a powerful deterrent to the people smugglers plying their trade in the Channel.

As protests outside migrant hotels grow noisier and clashes between rival demonstrators become potentially violent, do we hear this cry from the voters: “What do we want? An independent commission of professional adjudicators! When do we want it? As soon as legislative time allows!”

Of course not.

Even those who don’t agree with Nigel Farage’s apparent indifference – in his Times interview this weekend, to asylum seekers sent back to Afghanistan being killed or tortured by the Taliban – are demanding bolder and more radical measures from the government.

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And those who tire of the shadow home secretary Chris Philp’s constant criticisms of the government would probably accept that attempts to stop the boats in the Channel are not just useless but farcical.

On a visit to the Channel earlier this month, Mr Philp said: “There’s a boat full of illegal immigrants crossing right in front of me. The French warship is escorting it and making no attempt at all to stop it.”

Later, assessing his trip, Mr Philp said: “The people-smuggling conveyor belt is now a round trip, paid for by British taxpayers.

“We were in the middle of the Channel, just on the UK side of the border, witnessing the French handing over two boatloads of illegal migrants, Border Force picking them out, providing a taxi service back to the UK.”

So is Border Force fit for purpose? The Sunday Express reports that Martin Hewitt, Labour’s Border Security Commander, is the highest-paid civil servant in the Home Office, with a salary of £200,000, more than the prime minister.

Some top officials have also received bonuses.

Philip Douglas, director general of the Border Force, received bonuses of up to £15,000 in 2024-25 on top of his £140,000-£145,000 salary.

Why, given the force’s lamentable performance?

Given that Border Force clearly cannot cope with the small boat crossings, is it time to bring in the Royal Navy and some gunboat diplomacy, since the French government clearly is not helping to stop the boats?

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It’s happened before, after all.

In January 2022, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Royal Navy would take command of counter-migration operations in the Channel to deter migrant crossings and intercept boats before they reached British shores.

It was called Operation Isotrope.

But after squabbling between the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the mayor of Calais attacking a “declaration of maritime war”, Rishi Sunak’s government handed control back to the Home Office.

Read more:
Who says what on asylum hotels
Migration stats going in the wrong direction
Labour may have walked into political trap over Epping hotel

Is it time for a rethink? Earlier this month, the Labour peer Lord Glasman, founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour group, urged the PM to use the Navy and drones in the Channel to stop small boat crossings.

In May, however, armed forces minister Luke Pollard slapped down the former Reform UK, now independent, MP Rupert Lowe in the Commons when he asked what assessment had been made of the Navy’s capacity to intercept small boats.

“Defence assets are procured for defence tasks,” Mr Pollard said, dismissively.

The Navy’s primary role, he added, was to safeguard maritime security, including monitoring and shadowing foreign warships in British waters.

But at the very least, the Royal Navy could provide better surveillance, since Border Force seems to be failing in that role, and just the sight of naval vessels in the Channel could be a deterrent.

Sir Keir has put his faith in his “one in, one out” deportation deal with French President Emmanuel Macron and now in his asylum appeals shake-up.

The government’s opponents claim neither will be an effective deterrent, however.

Farage is proposing “mass deportation” of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who come to the UK on small boats. Labour says he’s “plucking numbers out of the air”.

But with the PM’s and Labour’s poll numbers tanking as the latest official figures confirm the numbers of migrants and small boat crossings are increasing at a shocking rate, is it now time for a different approach?

Another Starmer U-turn, given the MoD’s hostility to the Navy’s involvement up to now? Gunboats, anyone?

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Inflation: Cost of living challenges require bold decisions

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Inflation: Cost of living challenges require bold decisions

You know bad economic news is looming when a Chancellor of the Exchequer tries to get their retaliation in first.

Treasury guidance on Tuesday afternoon that Rachel Reeves has prioritised easing the cost of living had to be seen in the light of inflation figures, published this morning, and widely expected to rise above 4% for the first time since the aftermath of the energy crisis.

In that context the fact consumer price inflation in September remained level at 3.8% counts as qualified good news for the Treasury, if not consumers.

Money latest: What inflation hike means for state pension and rail fare increases

The figure remains almost double the Bank of England target of 2%, the rate when Labour took office, but economists at the Bank and beyond do expect this month to mark the peak of this inflationary cycle.

That’s largely because the impact of higher energy prices last year will drop out of calculations next month.

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Inflation sticks at 3.8%

The small surprise to the upside has also improved the chances of an interest rate cut before the end of the year, with markets almost fully pricing expectations of a reduction to 3.75% by December, though rate-setters may hold off at their next meeting early next month.

September’s figure also sets the uplift in benefits from next April so this figure may improve the internal Treasury forecast, but at more than double the rate a year ago it will still add billions to the bill due in the new year.

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Minister ‘not happy with inflation’

For consumers there was good news and bad, and no comfort at all from the knowledge that they face the highest price increases in Europe.

Fuel prices rose but there was welcome relief from the rate of food inflation, which fell to 4.5% from 5.1% in August, still well above the headline rate and an unavoidable cost increase for every household.

Read more from Sky News:
Beef market in turmoil and affecting farmers and consumers
Rachel Reeves looking at cutting energy bills in budget

The chancellor will convene a meeting of cabinet ministers on Thursday to discuss ways to ease the cost of living and has signalled that cutting energy bills is a priority.

The easiest lever for her to pull is to cut the VAT rate on gas and electricity from 5% to zero, which would reduce average bills by around £80 but cost £2.5bn.

More fundamental reform of energy prices, which remain the second-highest in Europe for domestic bill payers and the highest for industrial users, may be required to bring down inflation fast and stimulate growth.

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Schools must be ‘brave enough’ to talk about knives – as Harvey Willgoose’s killer is sentenced

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Schools must be 'brave enough' to talk about knives - as Harvey Willgoose's killer is sentenced

Schools need to be “brave enough” to talk about knives, Sky News has been told, as the killer of Sheffield teenager Harvey Willgoose is sentenced today.

The 15-year-old was stabbed outside the school canteen at All Saints Catholic high school by a fellow pupil in February this year.

His killer, who was also 15 and cannot be identified for legal reasons, had brought a 13cm hunting knife into school.

Harvey Willgoose. Pic: Sophie Willgoose
Image:
Harvey Willgoose. Pic: Sophie Willgoose

Following Harvey’s murder, his parents Caroline and Mark Willgoose told Sky News they wanted to see knife arches in “all secondary schools and colleges”.

“It’s 100% a conversation, I think, that we need to be empowered and brave enough to have,” says Katie Crook, associate vice principal of Penistone Grammar School.

The school, which teaches 2,000 pupils, is just a few miles away from where Harvey was killed.

After being contacted by the Willgoose family, it has decided to install a knife arch.

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The arch – essentially a walk-through metal detector – has been described as a “reassuring tool” and “real success” by school leaders.

“We’re really lucky here that we don’t have a knife crime problem – but we are on the forefront with safeguarding initiatives,” says Mrs Crook.

“I didn’t really think we needed one at first,” says Izzy, 14. “But then I guess at Harvey’s school they wouldn’t think that either and then it did actually happen.”

Joe, 15, says he did find the knife arch “intimidating” at first.

“But after using it a couple of times,” he says, “it’s just like walking through a doorway”.

“And it’s that extra layer of, like, you feel secure in school.”

After Harvey’s death, then home secretary Yvette Cooper said that she would support schools in the use of knife arches.

But there remains no official government policy or national guidance on their use.

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Some headteachers who spoke with Sky News feel knife arches aren’t the answer – saying the issue required a societal approach.

Others said knife arches themselves were a significant expense to schools.

But Mrs Crook says they are “well worth the funding” if they prevent “a student making a catastrophic decision”.

“I’m a parent and, of course, my focus every day is keeping our students safe, just as I want my son to be kept safe in his setting and his school.”

Mrs Crook says she thinks schools would “welcome” a discussion at “national level” about the use of knife arches and other knife-related deterrents in schools.

“It’s sad, though that this is what it’s come to, that we’re having lockdown drills in the UK, in our school settings.

“But I suppose some might argue that has been needed for a long time.”

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Shrinking herds and rising costs: The beef market is in turmoil – and inflation is spiralling

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Shrinking herds and rising costs: The beef market is in turmoil - and inflation is spiralling

If you eat beef, and ever stop to wonder where and how it’s produced, Jonathan Chapman’s farm in the Chiltern Hills west of London is what you might imagine. 

A small native herd, eating only the pasture beneath their hooves in a meadow fringed by beech trees, their leaves turning to match the copper coats of the Ruby Red Devons, selected for slaughter only after fattening naturally during a contented if short existence.

But this bucolic scene belies the turmoil in the beef market, where herds are shrinking, costs are rising, and even the promise of the highest prices in years, driven by the steepest price increase of any foodstuff, is not enough to tempt many farmers to invest.

For centuries, a symbolic staple of the British lunch table, beef now tells us a story about spiralling inflation and structural decline in agriculture.

Mr Chapman has been raising beef for just over a decade. A former champion eventing rider with a livery yard near Chalfont St Giles, the main challenge when he shifted his attention from horses to cows was that prices were too low.

“Ten years ago, the deadweight carcass price for beef was £3.60 a kilo. We might clear £60 a head of cattle,” he says. “The only way we could make the sums add up was to process and sell the meat ourselves.”

Processing a carcass doubles the revenue, from around £2,000 at today’s prices to £4,000. That insight saw his farm sprout a butchery and farm shop under the Native Beef brand. Today, they process two animals a week and sell or store every cut on site, from fillet to dripping.

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Today, farmgate prices are nearly double what they were in 2015 at £6.50 a kilo, down slightly from the April peak of almost £7, but still up around 25% in a year.

For consumers that has made paying more than £5 for a pack of mince the norm. For farmers, rising prices reflect rising costs, long-term trends, and structural changes to the subsidy regime since Brexit.

“Supply and demand is the short answer,” says Mr Chapman.

“Cow numbers have been falling roughly 3% a year for the last decade, probably in this country. Since Brexit, there is virtually no direct support for food in this country. Well over 50% of the beef supply would have come from the dairy herd, but that’s been reducing because farmers just couldn’t make money.”

Political, environmental and economic forces

Beef farmers also face the same costs of trading as every other business. The rise in employers’ national insurance and the minimum wage have increased labour costs, and energy prices remain above the long-term average.

Then there is the weather, the inescapable variable in agriculture that this year delivered a historically dry summer, leaving pastures dormant, reducing hay and silage yields and forcing up feed costs.

Native Beef is not immune to these forces. Mr Chapman has reduced his suckler herd from 110 to 90, culling older cows to reduce costs this winter. If repeated nationally, the full impact of that reduction will only be fully clear in three years’ time, when fewer calves will reach maturity for sale, potentially keeping prices high.

That lag demonstrates one of the challenges in bringing prices down.

Basic economics says high prices ought to provide an opportunity and prompt increased supply, but there is no quick fix. Calves take nine months to gestate and another 20 to 24 months to reach maturity, and without certainty about price, there is greater risk.

There is another long-term issue weighing on farmers of all kinds: inheritance tax. The ending of the exemption for agriculture, announced in the last budget and due to be imposed from next April, has undermined confidence.

Neil Shand of the National Beef Association cites farmers who are spending what available capital they have on expensive life insurance to protect their estates, rather than expanding their herds.

“The farmgate price is such that we should be in an environment that we should be in a great place to expand, there is a market there that wants the product,” he says. “But the inheritance tax challenge has made everyone terrified to invest in something that will be more heavily taxed in the future.”

While some of the issues are domestic, the UK is not alone.

Beef prices are rising in the US and Europe too, but that is small consolation to the consumer, and none at all to the cow.

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