Keir Starmer’s failed plan to curb migrant crisis will see him booted | Politics | News
For Keir Starmer, seeing the total number of illegal immigrants arriving in Britain steadily rise must be like watching a countdown clock to the end of his time in No 10. More than 60,000 have reached our shores since Labor took office, shattering the Prime Minister’s promise to “smash gangs”.
He also faced the indignity of an immigrant deported to France under his much-vaunted “one in, one out” deal with Emmanuel Macron and already returning to the UK on a small boat. Meanwhile, Sir Keir’s and his party’s poll ratings continue to fall.
No wonder Nigel Farage, the favorite to oust the Labor leader from Downing Street, said “the illegals are laughing at us”.
Senior border force officials have been warning for months that the Prime Minister’s efforts to tackle illegal immigration would have no impact on the number of small boat crossings until 2026 at the earliest.
More than 11,000 migrants have arrived in the UK since the “one in, one out” scheme began on 6 August.
The number of arrivals this year has already exceeded 36,816 (total for all 2024), reaching 36,886.
Immigration is seen as the main reason why Labor lost the recent Runcorn and Helsby by-elections to Reform UK.
This is the effect; The Welsh Senedd by-election in Caerphilly is expected to switch from Labor to Mr Farage’s party; Although there are very few immigrants in the community, immigration is seen as a major issue for voters.
The Home Office is understood to be optimistic about meeting Sir Keir’s request to significantly reduce the number of crossings by the next election, expected in 2029.
Insiders say there are already signs that greater international cooperation is paying off; Greater intelligence sharing is helping to lead to a number of important arrests and assistance to countries along smuggling routes that disrupt the gangs’ operations.
Sir Keir also identified the Western Balkan countries as key allies in the fight against illegal immigration.
Agreements to combat smuggling gangs were signed with Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo.
However, the Prime Minister has so far failed to find a country to host one of the Rwanda-style “return centres”, although negotiations with Kosovo are ongoing.
The clock is ticking.
