The Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has accused Labour of “failing abysmally” to stop the boats coming across the English Channel.
According to maritime security sources so far this year almost 33,000 have crossed the English Channel and this past weekend 781 migrants cross from France.
On Saturday 572 migrants crossed the English Channel in nine boats and on Sunday a further 209 entered UK waters illegally.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said, “Labour is failing abysmally to combat the Channel crossings.
They scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it had even started.
“As a result, since the election crossings are up 50% compared to the 4 months before and up 15% compared to the same period last year.
“We have seen the deterrent effect of a removals plan work in Australia around 10 years ago.
“Even the EU is now looking at offshore processing. Labour needs to urgently reinstate the Rwanda scheme before this gets even worse.
Starmer is personally responsible for this catastrophe – he is the one who cancelled Rwanda before it had even started.
A maritime security source said the criminal gangs are “prepared to push small boats out into the water whenever it’s just about manageable.”
The source added, “October was the busiest month on record since October 2022.
“A year back, we weren’t really seeing as many attempts to launch boats when the weather in the Channel was poor.
“And that’s now being reflected in the significantly increased number of small boat rescues and migrant deaths.”
Starmer said the “World needs to wake up to the severity” of the migration crisis affecting Europe, particularly the UK.
The Labour leader told global leaders on Monday, “we’ve got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes.
A Home Office official said Labour’s plans will not bring the crossings down as the smugglers will adapt and circumvent anything the government puts in place.
Another Home Office source told i of Starmer’s plans, “It’s fine for us to talk about targeting smugglers in the UK, but there are a lot of people in Europe who have to get involved.
“There are clearly political reasons about why they want to look tough on all this, but what is the impact actually going to be on the number of people arriving in the UK?”
Previously a Home Office spokesperson said, “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
