Tony Blair clashes with Keir Starmer over small-boat migration chaos | Politics | News

Sir Tony Blair reportedly argued that migrants by boat should not be allowed to seek asylum; Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also adopted this view.

The former Prime Minister is understood to believe rising immigration levels cannot be tackled unless potential arrivals realize there is no backdoor to British citizenship through refugee law.

Sir Tony’s view is conveyed in Taxpayers’ Union founder Matthew Elliott’s new book, Growth Through Prosperity, the Mail on Sunday reports.

This was despite Sir Tony’s government presiding over rising levels of immigration.

Ms Badenoch included a ban on asylum claims for illegal entrants in a raft of new immigration policies laid out at the Tory conference this month. These include a US-style ‘Immigrant Force’ that will capture and deport 750,000 immigrants.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir remains committed to existing asylum laws.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Even Tony Blair can see that Labour’s open border asylum policy is a red carpet across the Channel. “When you tell the world that anyone arriving illegally can still claim asylum, the crossings will never stop.

‘This is why the Conservatives’ border plan would end asylum claims for all illegal entrants. A common sense approach: Stop the pull factor that causes immigrants to make false claims and spend the rest of their lives in the UK.

“Unlike Labour, our plan is tough and achievable: exit the European Convention on Human Rights, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of their arrival and end the appeals merry-go-round. That’s how we stop this madness. But Starmer doesn’t have the backbone to do it.”

The UK border security chief tasked with tackling channel crossings said last week the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats was “frustrating” but work to stop the smuggling route “will always take time”.

Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt, who has been in the job for a year, rejected the idea that going after smuggling gangs was a “fool’s mission” and told MPs he was convinced the plan put in place “will come true”.

Speaking to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee on Thursday, Mr Hewitt said: “I, more than anyone else, find the fact that the figures are frustrating and really compelling, and this issue could not have received more attention.

“But I believe that the plan, the cross-spectrum plan that we have, is a plan that will succeed, but we need to continue to push and implement that plan.”

His comments come as more than 36,000 people have made the perilous journey so far this year; This is an increase of nearly a third from the same point in 2024.