After a summer dominated by criticism over the small boats crisis and asylum hotels, Labour says it’s planning to overhaul the “broken” asylum system.
As MPs return to Westminster today, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will speak about the government’s success in tackling people smugglers and plans for border security reform.
Image: August saw the lowest number of Channel crossings since 2019 – but the last year has the most on record. Pic: Reuters
Labour hopes that the raft of changes being proposed will contribute to ending the use of asylum hotels, an issue which has led to widespread protests over the summer.
Ms Cooper will set out planned changes to the refugee family reunion process to give “greater fairness and balance”, and speak to the government’s promise to “smash the gangs” behind English Channel crossings.
National Crime Agency (NCA) figures show record levels of disruption of immigration crime networks in 2024/25. Officials believe this contributed to the lowest number of boats crossing the Channel in August since 2019.
But, despite the 3,567 arrivals in August being the lowest since 2021, when looking across the whole of 2025, the figure of 29,003 is the highest on record for this point in a year.
Labour says actions to strengthen border security, increase returns and overhaul the asylum system, will result in “putting much stronger foundations in place so we can fix the chaos we inherited and end costly asylum hotels”.
In a message to Reform UK, which has promised mass deportations, and the Tories, who want to revive the Rwanda scheme, Ms Cooper will say: “These are complex challenges, and they require sustainable and workable solutions, not fantasy promises which can’t be delivered.”
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While the home secretary will look back at the UK’s “proud record of giving sanctuary to those fleeing persecution”, she will argue the system “needs to be properly controlled and managed, so the rules are respected and enforced, and so governments, not criminal gangs, decide who comes to the UK”.
She will also give further details around measures announced over the summer, including the UK’s landmark returns deal with France, and update MPs on reforms to the asylum appeals process.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp dismissed Ms Cooper’s intervention as a “desperate distraction tactic”, reiterating record levels of illegal Channel crossings, the rise in the use of asylum hotels and the highest number of asylum claims in history in Labour’s first year.
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Sir Keir Starmer too, says he intends to “deliver change,” using a column in Monday’s Mirror to criticise the Tories and Reform UK for whipping up migrant hatred.
And the prime minister isn’t the only one to hit out at Reform UK’s flagship immigration plan, with the Archbishop of York accusing it of being an “isolationist, short-term kneejerk” approach, with no “long-term solutions”.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal will hand down its full written judgment in the Bell Hotel case today, which saw Epping Forest District Council fail in an attempt to stop asylum seekers from being put up there.
Protests continued in Epping on Sunday night, with police arresting three people.
An anti-asylum demonstration also took place in Canary Wharf on Sunday, which saw a police officer punched in the face and in a separate incident, a child potentially affected by synthetic pepper spray.
The government will underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) after a mass cyber attack forced a shutdown.
JLR suspended production at its UK factories following the cyber attack on 31 August. The shutdown is expected to last until 1 October, leaving the largest UK carmaker’s suppliers in limbo.
The loan is expected to give suppliers some certainty amid the continued shutdown, as the £1.5bn will help bolster JLR’s cash reserves as it pays back companies in its supply chain.
The government will give its backing to the loan through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG), a financial support mechanism aimed at helping British companies that sell their goods overseas.
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4:27
JLR shutdown extended
The £1.5bn loan, from a commercial bank, will be paid back over five years.
“Following our decisive action, this loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK,” Business Secretary Peter Kyle said.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves added: “Jaguar Land Rover is an iconic British company which employs tens of thousands of people – a jewel in the crown of our economy.
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“Today we are protecting thousands of those jobs with up to £1.5bn in additional private finance, helping them support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry.”
Image: Rachel Reeves, during a visit to Jaguar Land Rover in Birmingham with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. File pic: PA
As a result of the attack, production was halted across the car-making supply chain, with thousands of staff off work.
More than 33,000 people work directly for JLR in the UK, many of them on assembly lines in the West Midlands, the largest of which is in Solihull, and a plant at Halewood on Merseyside.
An estimated 200,000 more are employed by several hundred companies in the supply chain, who have faced business interruption with their largest client out of action.
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Inside factory affected by Jaguar Land Rover shutdown
Ministers have had daily contact with JLR and cyber experts following the attack as the company attempts to restart production at its UK factories.
Unions and politicians have warned that small suppliers producing parts for JLR could collapse as a result of the shutdown unless they receive urgent financial support.
This week, Mr Kyle met workers and bosses at Webasto, which makes sunroofs for JLR.
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Image: Peter Kyle visits the JRL supplier Webasto in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands. Pic: PA
The brand has the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, which employs around 120,000 people and is largely made up of small and medium-sized businesses.
The government’s promise of underwriting the JLR loan has been praised by the Unite union, whose general secretary Sharon Graham said the loan was “an important first step and demonstrates that the government has listened to the concerns raised in meetings with Unite over recent days”.
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She added: “This is exactly what the government should be doing, taking action to protect jobs.
“The money provided must now be used to ensure job guarantees and to also protect skills and pay in JLR and its supply chain.”
Labour MPs are gathering in Liverpool for the annual party conference as Sir Keir Starmer attempts to mount a fightback against dire polling and threats to his leadership.
The prime minister said he will use the four-day event to show Labour can be an alternative to the “toxic divide and decline” offered by Reform UK, describing this as “the fight of our times”.
Sir Keir is under pressure after two separate polls predicted Nigel Farage’s party will win the next general election as voters turn their backs on mainstream politics.
It is the latest bit of bad news for the embattled prime minister, who has faced a month of scandals surrounding his top team alongside speculation Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham could mount a leadership challenge.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer and his wife arriving ahead of the Labour Party Conference. Pic:PA
Speaking from the conference venue on Saturday night, Sir Keir said the next few days are a “really big opportunity to make our case to the country, make it absolutely clear that patriotic national renewal is the way forward, not the toxic divide and decline that we get with Reform”.
He later insisted he could “pull things around”, telling The Sunday Times: “It is the fight of our times and we’ve all got to be in it together. We don’t have time for introspection, we don’t have time for navel-gazing.
“You’ll always get a bit of that at a Labour Party conference, but that is not going to solve the problems that face this country.
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“Once you appreciate the change – in the sense of the division that Reform would bring to our country and the shattering of what we are as a patriotic country – then you realise this is a fight which in the end is bigger than the Labour Party.”
Much of the next four days is likely to be dominated by discussions on how exactly Labour could beat Reform – and whether Sir Keir is the man for the job.
PM’s future in doubt
There has been rampant speculation Mr Burnham could mount a leadership challenge after he made a series of high-profile interventions this week, criticising the direction of the government and claiming Labour MPs had asked him to stand.
The so-called “King of the North” has many hurdles to overcome before that could be a possibility – he would have to win a seat in Westminster through a by-election if one became available, then get 80 colleagues to back him.
One MP told Sky News that lots of backbenchers are “reluctantly coming to the conclusion” that Sir Keir’s downfall is a “not a matter of if, but when” – citing Mr Burnham or Health Secretary Wes Streeting as possible replacements
However they stressed that they did not want to see the prime minister go and hope he can turn things around ahead of the local elections in May.
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Two-child benefit cap speculation
Many MPs want the prime minister to use the conference to set out a positive vision that offers hope for the future – saying his rhetoric on “tough choices” during the first 12 months backfired with the public.
In a signal the leadership is listening, there have been hints from senior ministers that the government could use the conference to scrap the controversial two-child benefit cap.
The limit is opposed by over 100 Labour MPs, both of Labour’s deputy leadership candidates and other senior party figures such as Mr Burnham and former prime minister Gordon Brown.
Two MPs who were suspended for rebelling over the measure last year – John McDonnell and Aspana Begum – had the whip reinstated on Friday.
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Mr McDonnell, the shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, said he hopes “this is a signal the government has decided to scrap the cap”.
Key announcements
Sir Keir’s allies rallied round him ahead of the conference, with Business Secretary Peter Kyle claiming the prime minister received a “rapturous reception” at events he has been speaking at on Saturday.
Sir Keir will address the conference on Tuesday but there will be speeches from cabinet ministers throughout the event, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves to speak on Monday.
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The opening day will kick off with a pledge from Housing Secretary Steve Reed to construct three new towns before the next election, in Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill, north London.
In one of a number of announcements overnight, the government also said that it will underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover as it continues to face a shutdown following a mass cyber attack.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told The Times she is pushing for a new youth mobility scheme and an improved trading relationship with the European Union in a bid to reduce the need for tax rises in the forthcoming budget.
And Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signalled a major change in immigration policy, telling The Sun on Sunday she would “reset” immigration laws so foreigners must prove their social worth before being allowed to settle in Britain.
The boss of Unite, Labour’s biggest union funder, has threatened to break its link with the party unless it changes direction.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of the union, told Sky News that, on the eve of a crucial party conference for the prime minister, Unite‘s support for Labour was hanging in the balance.
She told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “My members, whether it’s public sector workers all the way through to defence, are asking, ‘What is happening here?’
Image: Sharon Graham has been a long-time critic of Sir Keir Starmer. Pic: PA
“Now when that question cannot be answered, when we’re effectively saying, ‘Look, actually we cannot answer why we’re still affiliated’, then absolutely I think our members will choose to disaffiliate and that time is getting close.”
Asked when that decision might be made, she cited the budget, on 26 November, as “an absolutely critical point of us knowing whether direction is going to change”.
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Ms Graham, who became leader in 2021, has been a long-time critic of Sir Keir Starmer‘s agenda, accusing him of lacking vision.
The union has campaigned against his decision to cut winter fuel allowance for pensioners – which was later reversed – and has called for more taxes on the wealthy.
But the firm threat to disaffiliate, and a timetable, highlights the acute trouble Sir Keir faces on multiple fronts, after a rocky few months which have seen his popularity plummet in the polls and his administration hit by resignations and scandals.
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Unite has more than a million members, the second-largest union affiliated to Labour. It donates £1.5m a year from its membership fees to the party.
The union did not make an additional donation to Labour at the last election – as it has done previously – but was the biggest donor to its individual MPs and candidates. It has donated millions to the party in the past.
Any decision to disaffiliate would need to be made at a Unite rules conference; of which the next is scheduled for 2027, but there is the option to convene emergency conferences earlier.
Just 15 months into Sir Keir’s premiership, in which he has promised to champion workers’ rights, Ms Graham’s comments are likely to anger the Labour leadership.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer has seen his popularity plummet in the polls in recent months. Pic: AP
Unite, earlier this year, voted to suspend former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner of her union membership because of the government’s handling of a long-running bin strike in Birmingham.
This summer, she said if Unite dropped support from Labour it would “focus on building a strong, independent workers’ union that was the true, authentic voice for workers”.
The annual Labour Party conference kicks off in Liverpool from Sunday.
As a union affiliated with Labour, Unite has seats on the party’s ruling national executive committee and can send delegates to its annual conference.
Watch the full interview with Sharon Graham on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sky News