Starmer crony claims Tories and Reform would ‘let small boat migrants drown’ | Politics | News
Lord Hermer attacks Tory, Reform immigration policy (Image: BBC)
Reform and Conservatives will let immigrants “drowne”, Labor attorney general has claimed. Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch’s parties will not take a “British” approach to the Channel migrant crisis, Lord Hermer has claimed.
He also suggested that Labour’s plan was “starting to be quite effective in tackling small boats”. But the Conservatives hit back, saying his comments were a “disgraceful insult”. Speaking to the BBC’s Political Thought podcast, Lord Hermer asked what the two parties would do instead, and host Nick Robinson said: “They’re saying they’ll round people up on the beaches and send them somewhere else.”
Lord Hermer replied: “I think what they mean by that is to let people drown. And that’s not the British way of dealing with that. It’s not in keeping with our values.”
“The way we deal with this is how we deal with it, and we will put in place other agreements involving cooperation with the states where people travel and where boats are launched.
“We do this through our membership of the Council of Europe.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is a shameful slander to suggest that those who want to end illegal small boat migration are prepared to see migrants drown.
“The truth is that human rights lawyers like Hermer and Starmer are part of the problem because they think the often weak human rights demands of illegal immigrants are more important than protecting our border.
“Let’s not forget, illegal immigrants are leaving the safe country of France. Small boat crossings have increased by 45% since the election, with 73,000 people crossing under Starmer – more than under any other Prime Minister.”
“And Lord Hermer has the audacity to say this is acceptable. He is out of touch and poses a danger to our border security. We need to leave the ECHR so that all illegal immigrants can be deported within a week of their arrival. Then the crossings will soon stop.”
But Lord Hermer and his Labor allies are not willing to do this. So illegal immigrants will continue to flock to Labor.”
The attorney general says some people who want to repeal the human rights law against small boat migrants want to ‘let people drown’.
Lord Hermer tells @bbcnickrobinson ‘Some of the rhetoric is deeply concerning’. pic.twitter.com/QOfAwkTz9j
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) June 5, 2026
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Attorney-General Lord Hermer, along with their counterparts on the continent, agreed to changes to the way human rights laws are interpreted to potentially make it easier to deport criminals and illegal immigrants.
The document included new interpretations of two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that lawyers regularly use to persuade judges to block the deportation of foreign fraudsters, failed asylum seekers and immigration criminals.
The new agreement states that immigrants should not be able to avoid deportation by claiming worse health and prison facilities in their home countries.
He also said the ECHR should allow nation states to deport criminals and illegal immigrants even if they have started a family in the country.
On the protection of the highly controversial Article 8 (the right to family life), he emphasizes that this must be balanced with the public interest, including the “economic well-being of the country” and the state’s duty to prevent crime. National governments are in a better position than an international court to assess this balance, the document says.
A group of countries, including Britain, Italy and Denmark, were concerned that judges were interpreting human rights laws too broadly.
The Daily Express has backed calls to leave the ECHR to ensure the UK can deport foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders.
Lord Hermer insisted: “There is no tension between believing in human rights and having an steely determination to tackle small boats.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will use the new immigration deal to introduce new legislation on how Article 8 applies in the UK, the attorney general has said.
He claimed this would give Ms Mahmood more “flexibility”.
He said: “I think you will see Shabana in the coming weeks carry out further reforms of the migration system in line with the agreement we made in Moldova.”
The attorney general’s spokesman says: “The attorney general has repeatedly argued that this government has a firm commitment to combating illegal immigration and that this is not in tension with meeting our human rights obligations.
“The lawyer also makes clear his concern that some on the far right are using dehumanizing rhetoric about immigrants and that this is not the British way.”
