English Channel

SIR Keir Starmer was under fresh fire last night after it emerged 3,567 dinghy migrants have arrived since he signed a “one-in, one-out” deal with France — but NONE have been kicked out.

The news overshadowed the Government’s latest attempt to get a grip on the illegal migration crisis.

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Yesterday, ministers put a temporary halt on refugees bringing in partners and children.

Sir Keir also said he wanted to bring forward his 2029 deadline for closing asylum hotels because he “completely gets” the public’s anger.

But his positive slant was derailed by the news of the failure of the “one-in, one-out” deal with France’s Emmanuel Macron.

More than 100 people are understood to have been detained — with videos shared by No10 showing people being escorted by staff after arriving across the Channel.

Yet none has actually gone yet, officials confirmed.

The PM and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had gone on the offensive yesterday after a summer of dismal headlines.

Sir Keir slammed Reform leader Nigel Farage’s sweeping deportation plans.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five, the PM said: “It’s a really serious issue. We have to have control of our borders, and I completely get it.

“I’m determined that whether it’s people crossing in the first place, people in asylum hotels, or it’s returning people, we absolutely have to deal with this.”

Pressed on when illegal migrant hotels will finally shut, Sir Keir replied: “We’ve said we’ll get rid of them by the end of the Parliament. I would like to bring that forward, I think it is a good challenge.”

Nationwide protests over the summer pushed the PM to finally act as public anger over hotel use reached boiling point.

The Home Office currently houses around 32,000 asylum seekers in over 200 hotels across Britain.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said accommodation for illegal migrants would be dealt with “not just by shifting individuals from hotels to other sites, but by driving down the numbers in supported accommodation overall”.

Hotels would be “reconfigured” to increase room-sharing and the test for accommodation would be “tightened”.

She said the Home Office would try to “identify alternative cheaper and more appropriate accommodation”.

Last month, Mr Farage unveiled his radical mass deportation blueprint, dubbed “Operation Restoring Justice”, aiming to expel up to 600,000 undocumented migrants over five years.

Scrap ECHR

His plan includes withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and scrapping the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

He also wants to establish detention centres with compulsory deportations, even for women and children.

Sir Keir said: “The difference here is between an orderly sensible way of actually fixing a problem we inherited from the Tories or fanciful arrangements that are just not going to work.

“Nigel Farage and Reform are just the politics of grievance. They feed on grievance. They don’t want the problem solved because they’ve got no reason to exist if the problems are solved.”

The PM added that Mr Farage’s plan is “not fair to put forward to the public” because it is an idea that “just isn’t going to work”.

It came as Ms Cooper announced refugees will be banned from bringing their families to the UK as part of “radical” asylum reforms announced by the Home Secretary yesterday.

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The Home Secretary vowed that new immigration rules will temporarily suspend new applications from dependents of refugees already in Britain.

She also said that the controversial Article 8 of the ECHR — which guarantees a right to family life — should be interpreted differently.

Around 20,000 people come to the UK on refugee family reunion visas per year, according to Home Office figures.

Ms Cooper told the House of Commons yesterday: “Our reforms will also address the overly complex system for family migration, including changes to the way Article 8 of the ECHR is interpreted.

“We should be clear that international law is important.

“But we also need the interpretation of international law to keep up with the realities and challenges of today’s world.”

‘Living in a parallel universe’

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused Ms Cooper of “living in a parallel universe”.

Labour’s own Graham Stringer said the measures “don’t really deal with the fact that many migrants are not coming from war-torn countries, they’re coming from France, which isn’t persecuting them”.

And Reform MP Lee Anderson said: “Starmer continues to open the floodgates for hundreds of illegals each day.”

The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, became a flash point for discontent this summer after two of its guests were charged with sexual offences.

Epping Forest District Council won a bid at the High Court to block migrants from being housed at the hotel.

But the Court of Appeal last week overturned the injunction after an Home Office appeal.

Lee Anderson added: “Starmer makes hollow claims while refusing to close Epping. Hypocrite.”

Carpenter Jimmy Hillard, 52, of Loughton, Essex, has been handed an eight-week suspended prison sentence by Chelmsford JPs after admitting assaulting a police officer at a Bell Hotel demo on Friday.

PM’S ‘PRIDE’ IN FLAG

PM SIR Keir Starmer yesterday declared himself a “supporter of flags” — and revealed he still proudly displays a St George’s Cross in his flat.

He dismissed claims that showing off England’s ensign should be seen as racist, telling BBC Five Live: “I am the leader of the Labour Party who put the Union Jack on membership cards.

“I always sit in front of the Union Jack. I’ve been doing it for years, and it attracted a lot of comment when I started doing it.” He said he bought his England flag for last year’s Euros football.

The flag debate reignited after councils in the West Midlands and Tower Hamlets tried to remove the St George’s Cross from lamp posts and motorway bridges over claims they intimidated minorities.

The PM added: “They’re patriotic and a great symbol of our nation. I don’t think they should be devalued and belittled.”

Murder accused can stay

EXCLUSIVE by MIKE SULLIVAN

A CAKE shop owner can remain in Britain despite being wanted for murder in his home country.

Carlos Kassimo Dos Santos, 33, was jailed for 14 years in his absence in 2016 over a gang killing in Portugal.

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An extradition bid failed when the High Court upheld a decision by a district judge to allow Santos to remain here.

It was deemed Santos, who denies involvement in the 2010 murder, could not be guaranteed a retrial and it could not be proved he fled justice to come here.

He is now co-owner of Kings & Queens Dessert outlet, set up three years ago in Leeds.

It recently won The Best Dessert Shop in West Yorkshire award.

Santos was 18 when he was accused of being part of a group who killed a gang rival near Lisbon.

He then spent two years in the army before coming to Britain, where his dad lives.

He said he was unaware he was jailed and did not know he had to notify authorities of his address change.

He refused to comment when approached.

SIR Keir Starmer is under huge pressure to take a tougher line on immigration — as even his own MPs reckon his asylum shake-up is not enough.

The Prime Minister has been warned he will lose the next election unless the Government gets a grip on the Channel crisis — with one backbencher calling for a “national emergency” to shut down most asylum claims.

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It came as Nigel Farage cranked things up with a blueprint that pledges a mass deportation blitz within 30 days of arrival at No10.

Last week, Home Office figures revealed that a record number of people have claimed asylum in the UK since Labour came to power.

Just over 111,000 made claims in the year to June — with 32,000 migrants currently living in taxpayer-funded hotels.

Even yesterday, migrants continued to board dinghies off the coast of France to attempt the dangerous Channel crossing.

Reform UK leader Mr Farage is today due to unveil plans to arrest all illegal arrivals on entry, detain them on disused military bases and deport them within a month.

Under the blueprint, the UK would leave the European Convention on Human Rights and scrap the Human Rights Act, replacing it with a new British Bill of Rights.

The hardline stance will be pitched directly against the package unveiled by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper at the weekend.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said: “The Reform plan will defeat the lawyers using human rights laws to stop deportations.

“Labour’s plans will still allow the lawyers to use the ECHR and human rights to stop removals.”

Ms Cooper promised to scrap the tribunal system and replace it with panels of “professionally trained adjudicators” to fast-track appeals and reduce the backlog of 51,000 cases, which each take an average of more than a year.

She insisted the “broken” process was leaving thousands of people in the system for years on end and vowed to substantially reduce the numbers in asylum hotels.

It comes after the High Court granted a temporary injunction that will force the Home Office to relocate around 138 male asylum seekers from a hotel in Epping, Essex, in a matter of days.

Labour backbencher Jonathan Brash told The Sun yesterday: “The British people expect our borders to be secure and they are rightly angry at the situation on our south coast.

“If the Government’s current measures don’t end the boat crossings, then we must go further and faster, including declaring a national emergency if necessary and closing our country to all asylum claims except for unaccompanied children.

“The message must be crystal clear — if you cross the Channel illegally, you will be detained and returned immediately. No loopholes, no delays, no excuses.”

Veteran Labour MP Graham Stringer echoed his comments, saying: “We need to persuade people who are coming here in the belief they will be allowed to stay and get priority in terms of housing and healthcare, that this won’t be the case.

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“And if that means withdrawing from international treaties, then so be it.” He also warned: “It will be very difficult to win the next election if we don’t solve the problem of illegal immigrants being given the right to stay.

We need to make it far more difficult for asylum seekers to want to come to this country

Jo White, leader of Labour’s Red Wall Caucus

“We need a more fundamental look at how to tackle illegal migration than the Government is currently pursuing.”

Jo White, leader of Labour’s Red Wall Caucus, also urged tougher action, saying: “I want Yvette Cooper to look at every possible solution — and there are many more than just looking at how fast the appeal system is working.

“We need to make it far more difficult for asylum seekers to want to come to this country.”

She went on: “I firmly believe that if we don’t sort it, then Labour are under threat at the next election.

“So I want this Government to look at every solution possible. And I’m very, very keen that Britain does take a look at what (Denmark) is doing.”

Denmark has pursued some of the toughest asylum policies in Europe, including plans to process claims in third countries, tighter rules on residency and benefits, and measures aimed at discouraging new arrivals.

FAILED asylum seekers and foreign offenders are being left in Britain for up to a year because their governments are dragging their feet over travel papers, a Home Office file reveals.

The official guide, published by the department, shows deportations are crippled by delays from overseas embassies.

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Egypt, Guinea and Burkina Faso are among the worst offenders — taking six to 12 months to issue the documents needed to put its citizens on a plane home.

By contrast, Italy, Belgium and Sri Lanka can turn the paperwork around in less than two weeks, while India averages one month.

But the file also shows no reliable timescale is available at all for dozens of countries — leaving removals at the mercy of slow or unpredictable foreign bureaucracies.

The delays mean some migrants remain in Britain long after their claims have failed, with taxpayers footing the bill for hotel rooms, benefits and legal fees while they wait.

Yesterday, fed-up protesters raised St George’s Cross and Union flags outside some of the 210 hotels being used to house migrants — as PM Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to overhaul the failing asylum system.

Among those targeted was the Castle Bromwich Holiday Inn in Birmingham.

Outside the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, East London, a group of protesters gathered with one holding a banner that read: “Enough is enough protect our women and girls.”

Another said: “Tower Hamlets council house homeless Brits first.”

There were also protests outside the Holiday Inn in Solihull, West Midlands, and the Manchester South Hotel.

At least 15 people were arrested at protests relating to migrant hotels on Saturday.

Following the release of the Home Office file, Reform UK demanded ministers get tough.

Deputy party leader Richard Tice said: “Foreign countries know Starmer’s Britain is a pushover, so it’s no wonder they are dragging their feet when it comes to accepting deportations.

“Britain needs to start using its diplomatic and economic power.

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“Countries that refuse to take their criminals back should not get off scot-free but instead face serious sanctions.

“Unfortunately, with this meek Labour Government, we will continue to be seen as a meek nation on the global stage.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp also hit out, saying: “Countries that do not fully and promptly co-operate should suffer visa sanctions — where we don’t give visas to citizens of those countries to come here.

‘TOO WEAK’

“Then, they would pretty soon fall into line.

“The legal power exists to do that but this Labour Government is too weak to use it.”

There is currently a 106,000-strong backlog of asylum claim cases, including at least 51,000 appeals.

Last week, official statistics showed a record 111,000 people applied for asylum in the UK during the first year of Labour coming to power.

The Government has said its latest plans would introduce independent panels to hear appeal cases to speed up the process and deport failed asylum seekers quicker.

A new commission will prioritise cases of those living in costly asylum hotels and foreign national offenders.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited, which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer.”

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She added: “Overhauling the appeals system so that it is swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place, is a central part of our Plan for Change.”

But the new scheme could take months to implement and record numbers of people continue to cross the Channel on small boats.

Tory Mr Philp said: “The Government is too weak to do what’s really needed — such as repeal the Human Rights Act for all immigration matters and deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival.”

The Home Office said: “For some countries receiving returnees from the UK, establishing their identities and nationalities can take time.

“Where that is the case, we work with their respective governments closely to drive timings down to the minimum possible.”

THERE is a reckoning coming. The people of Britain have had enough.

A new poll by Find Out Now has Reform UK winning a majority of 140 seats at the next general election. The big poll-of-polls gives us a 10-point lead. People are fed up. And one thing they are fed up with the most is illegal immigration.

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I went along to watch a protest outside the Britannia Hotel in London’s Canary Wharf, now a luxury hostel for asylum seekers, and felt for myself how high feelings are running.

Protesters like the famous Pink Ladies don’t want these illegal immigrants in their communities. Does anybody? Who voted for this madness?

That’s why our party, Reform UK, is backing more peaceful protests and asking people to demand that their local councils take action to empty the migrant hotels. But we can’t stop there.

We need to detain and deport illegal immigrants. Then I think they’re going to stop coming, and we can get back to some sort of peace and normality.

It’s no wonder people are angry. Just look at the shocking numbers that came out this past week.

We learned that, in the year up to June 2025, 110,000 more migrants applied for asylum in Britain –that’s the highest number since records began. More than 50,000 illegal immigrants have landed on our beaches since Labour were elected last July.

At the end of June, 32,100 asylum seekers were housed in hotels at taxpayers’ expense – up another 8 per cent since Keir Starmer moved into 10 Downing Street.

Over that same year, the Labour government spent £4.76 billion managing the asylum mess that they and their Tory predecessors have created.

This outrageous sum is the equivalent of hiring 86,500 more police officers, or 16 million winter fuel payments for British pensioners at the higher rate.

If I were a young male over the Channel in a migrant camp, I’d be thinking to myself it doesn’t matter where I’m from or what I’ve done in the past, get on a small boat to Britain and within 24 hours I could be in a four-star hotel, three meals a day, wifi, mobile phone, free to roam the streets and do pretty much whatever you want, because the authorities haven’t got the foggiest who you are.

What have we done as a nation? We see it in the news every week now, that an asylum seeker has been either charged or found guilty of disgusting attacks on women and girls.

The door’s open, we’ve invited these people in, some of them serious wrong ‘uns, and treated them like honoured guests.

But the tide is starting to turn. Last week the decent people of Epping in Essex won a big victory for us all, when the high court ruled that asylum seekers must leave the town’s Bell Hotel.

Parents and concerned residents had been protesting outside the hotel since an illegal migrant housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

They were slandered as “far-right” lunatics by Labour and the BBC, and attacked by leftie “Antifa” thugs who we saw being bussed in by the police! But they bravely stood up and won, despite home secretary Yvette Cooper shamefully hiring expensive lawyers to attack them in court.

People around the country are now protesting outside migrant hotels and telling their councils to take action. Nigel Farage was the first to call for more peaceful protests, and the councils that Reform won in the May elections will do everything in their power to follow Epping’s lead.

Now we need to go further. Next week, Reform UK will announce our proposals for mass deportations that will finally stop the boats and tackle the crisis.

And we are very clear that, to make this happen, the UK will need to quit the European Convention on Human Rights, which lets liberal foreign judges override the sovereignty of our parliament on immigration law.

National emergency

This is a national emergency. Labour’s latest scheme, to move migrants from hotels into homes into our communities, can only make matters worse.

But let’s not forget that the last Conservative government started the problem. So it’s a bit rich for them to start attacking migrant hotels now.

When I was a Tory MP, I spoke up asking the government to detain illegal immigrants in secure camps ready for deportation. Instead, they housed them in hotels.

I was constantly told to shut up by the “One Nation” lot of Conservative MPs. This is of their making, and they should all apologise right now.

Reform Uk stands foursquare with the people protesting peacefully across Britain. And we will defend free speech against the authorities that want to lock up anybody who speaks out.

On a protest in my constituency of Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, some women in their sixties and seventies came up to me and said Lee, are we really far-right? And I said no, you’re just right.

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STUDENT accommodation, colleges and disused tower blocks may replace migrant hotels as councils continue to revolt.

The move is part of Labour’s pledge to stop using hotels to house migrants by 2029,

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However, nearly 200 hotels are still in use, putting up more than 32,000 people, according to recent figures.

Labour said it no longer wants to house migrants on large sites like military bases.

Instead, it is reportedly planning to use sites which are easier to make habitable and not as expensive to refurbish.

According to Dame Angela Eagle, the minister for border security, the plan is to use “medium-sized” sites like “voided tower blocks, old teacher training colleges or old student accommodation”.

This is because the Tories’ plans to use large sites like former military bases and the Bibby Stockholm barge would be too expensive.

She said the effort of tackling “asbestos-filled buildings and poisoned land” would be too pricey.

“I think that there are different, better ways of trying to achieve this kind of service than the ones that we’ve inherited,” she said.

It comes amid an urgent appeal from the Home Office, reportedly looking for 5,000 properties to house 20,000 migrants.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is already facing the humiliation of Labour councils revolting against his government’s loathed migrant hotel policy.

Huge pressure from councils run by every political party could hasten the end of the controversial Home Office policy.

A total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government, up 8 per cent on the same point 12 months ago, Home Office data shows.

But authorities are poised to follow Epping Forest council in Essex after it won a High Court injunction to halt asylum accommodation.

Now, it has been revealed that asylum accommodation contractors working for the Home Office “reached out” to property specialists earlier this month, seeking 5,000 residential units, reports the Telegraph.

Insiders told the outlet that each flat would likely have two bedrooms on average, with space to house four migrants.

ASYLUM SEEKER HOTEL PROTESTS

This Bank Holiday weekend, around 30 migrant hotels are bracing for a wave of protests as campaigners are bolstered by this week’s landmark ruling.

The High Court ordered the removal of migrants from the hotel in Essex, which has become the face of the row over asylum seeker accommodation.

It was the centre of protests after a migrant being housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl – which he denies.

Several other demonstrations cropped up around the UK as communities rebelled against the migrant hotels in their area.

It is understood that there is a fresh wave of protests – at least 27 – planned outside of hotels this Bank Holiday weekend.

However anti-racism groups have warned towns and cities could experience the most disruption since last year’s summer riots.

Councils are also pushing back, following the lead of Epping Forest Council, which argued for the hotel to be closed to reduce the threat of “violent protests” and for the safety of those living nearby.

Mr Justice Eyre ruled the owners may have breached planning rules by housing migrants rather than paying customers.

The Home Office argued that granting this application risks “acting as an impetus for further violent protests”.

The High Court ruling threatens Labour’s asylum seeker plans, as more and more councils express an intention to follow suit.

If more councils take action, ministers are unsure where more than 30,000 people in hotel rooms would live.

However Brighton and Hove City Council refused to launch a legal bid, saying it was a “proud city of sanctuary” and will continue to welcome and support asylum seekers.

Jacob Taylor, the local authority’s deputy leader, said “We will not comment on the location of hotels being used by the Home Office to provide temporary accommodation to people seeking asylum.

“I believe to do so in the current climate is irresponsible and risks causing division and unrest in our communities at a time when more than ever we need to bring people together.”

While some county councils will push for the closures, the legal steps to challenge the use of hotels falls to district and borough councils.

The Local ­Government Association called on the Home Office to work “much more closely” with ­authorities on asylum accommodation decisions.

The Home Office is scrambling to find accommodation for up to 138 men housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping before the September 12 deadline to empty it.

Pressed to give details of these contingency options, Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis said: “With respect, the legal judgment was only handed down yesterday.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has written to Yvette Cooper to demand that those in the Bell Hotel are not moved to apartments, houses in multiple occupation, or social housing which is “much needed for British people”.

When there is not enough housing, the Home Office – which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute – can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases.

Amid hotel protests, campaigners including Rape Crisis and Refuge have warned conversations about violence against women and girls are being “hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda” which they argued fuels divisions and harms survivors.

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RECORD NUMBERS OF MIGRANTS

It comes after it was revealed that a record number of people claimed asylum in the UK in the last year – with a massive 32,000 currently living in taxpayer-funded hotels.

Home Office data shows that 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025 up 14 per cent on last year.

It is higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 which was set in 2002.

The number of people claiming asylum in this country has almost doubled since 2021.

And just under half of all those applying for protection in the UK are granted it at the initial decision stage – 48 per cent.

It is lower than in 2022 when 77 per cent of those applying were given the green light.

Half of all those came via irregular routes – such as on a small boat or in the back of a lorry – while 37 per cent claimed asylum after previously arriving on a valid visa.

In the year up to March, the UK was the fifth biggest recipient of asylum seekers in the UK after Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

The sky-high figures come as the number of migrants being housed in hotels has INCREASED since Labour came into power.

A total of 32,059 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of Labour’s first year in Government up 8 per cent on the same point 12 months ago.

Around 210 hotels are currently open across the UK despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to end their use.

In the year to June, the top five nationalities of people arriving in Dover were Afghan, Eritrean, Iranian, Syrian and Sudanese.

CONGRATULATIONS, Sir Keir! The number of people arriving here in small boats from France has reached 50,000 since your magnificent government took office.

That’s something to be proud of, isn’t it? The way things are going, you might make it 100,000 by the end of the year.

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Smashing the gangs was the plan you announced upon taking office.

It was about as much use as howling at the moon. And although you deny it, the policy seems to have been quietly shelved.

Nor will the one-in, one-out deal work. A pilot scheme which was only ever going to deal with one in 20 of the illegal migrants.

You scrapped the Rwanda plan. That at least provided SOME deterrent.

And so, like almost every other thing you turn your hand to, you’ve made things worse and worse.

So here’s my ten-point plan to stop what seems to be an unstoppable tide. It’s not really unstoppable, if you really want to do it.

1: Let it be known that anyone arriving here illegally automatically loses their right to live in the UK, in perpetuity. Cost of this? Nil.

Deterrence effect? Very high. No place to live, no permit to work, no schooling, no health care.

2: No more hotels. As Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has suggested, house the migrants who arrive in tents.

Empty every hotel which has migrants in them, immediately. Cost of this? Rather less than the hotels, I would reckon.

3: No grants for swimming lessons, gym workouts and hair extensions. No grants for anything except a ticket home.

4: Withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and all other supranational jurisdiction which stops us from solving our own problems in our own ways. They are well past their sell-by dates, anyway.

5: Abolish the immigration tribunals, immediately. They are all presided over by judges who spend most of their lives advocating the causes of asylum seekers. The legal issue is clear: Arriving illegally means no entry.

6: In complex cases, where it is either not clear where the migrant comes from, or the country of origin refuses to have them back, send them for processing at a place under British jurisdiction.

Such as St Helena — a windswept island in the middle of the Atlantic. Or South Georgia. Or, for the really devious ones, Rockall.

7. For those who have already arrived and are currently going through the appeals process, let it be made clear that by arriving illegally they have automatically lost their right to stay here. Also, abolish all legal aid for those who have arrived.

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8: Offer those who have been here for some time £1,000 to leave the country, never to return. You could throw in some free bags of Monster Munch, and one of those neck cushions, for the flight.

9: Strike a deal with the French to allow British policemen or soldiers to puncture the boats before they leave France.

Or otherwise hole them below the waterline. It is obvious we can’t trust the French to do this.

10: Start taking things seriously, Starmer. Begin with the conviction that all who arrive illegally must go. Including those who have already arrived. And if the Left moans, so be it.

Boring tunes Taylor-made for kids

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GOT your pre-order in for the new Taylor Swift album?

Nope, me neither. But I suppose million upon million will.

Her music is bloodless and boring, written by a committee. The lyrics are naff. But she is a consummate saleswoman.

She’s already been giving teasing hints as to what’s on the new album.

It includes a cover of a George Michael song, for example. Which is, for me, another reason to stay well away from it.

Ah well, she’s what a certain section of the kids want now and I suppose I am not necessarily her target audience.

But couldn’t the kids fall in love with something a little more exciting, and dangerous, and full of adventure?

UK IN A RIGHTS MESS

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WHEN friends make constructive criticisms, we should listen.

The US State Department has just investigated human rights in the UK – something the Vice President JD Vance has been banging on about.

It says our human rights worsened last year. And it claimed there were “credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression”, as well as “crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by antisemitism”.

That seems to me pretty much bang on.

Over the last 15 years our freedom to express ourselves has diminished and diminished.

And that trend hastened last year with the advent of a Labour government which really hates the idea that people should express themselves freely.

GOOD luck to all our readers who are about to open their A-level results today.

It’s always a fun time of year, isn’t it?

But it doesn’t really matter in the end, believe me.

And here’s a bit of advice to anyone who got lower than As and Bs.

Don’t go to university. It’s not worth the bother.

Instead, get yourself an apprenticeship and learn something useful which will keep you in work.

Soon you will be earning a decent income while the debt-laden students slum it on awful courses.

High flyer? What do you take me for?

NOW I really have heard it all. A trolley dolly has just won a discrimination case against British Airways.

Jennifer Clifford said she was too scared to fly. Being up in the air in one of those planes made her kind of stressy, you see. So she shouldn’t have been given the boot.

Do you ever get the impression that, much as the Fun Boy Three suggested all those years ago, the lunatics really have taken over the asylum?

MIGRANTS arriving in Britain by small boat were immediately detained yesterday under the new “one in, one out” deal with France.

The first to be held under the pilot scheme were picked up in Dover on Wednesday – just hours after the new treaty kicked in.

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Photos showed arrivals in life jackets being led off Border Force vessels at the Western Jet Foil facility.

An unspecified number were held on the spot and taken to immigration removal centres — with swift deportation to France now expected.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Yesterday, under the terms of this groundbreaking new treaty, the first group of people to cross the Channel were detained after their arrival at Western Jet Foil and will now be held in detention until they can be returned to France.

“That sends a message to every migrant currently thinking of paying organised crime gangs to go to the UK that they will be risking their lives and throwing away their money if they get into a small boat.”

The Home Office says it will not be disclosing figures at this stage for fear it would be exploited by smugglers.

But just around 50 people a week are expected to be returned under the deal,  a tiny number compared to the 25,436 who have already crossed this year.

LABOUR’s migrant deal with France is already unravelling — as dinghies keep crossing and confusion erupts over how it is meant to work.

Just days after the “one-in, one-out” scheme came into force, footage shared by the Tories shows French warships escorting small boats packed with migrants across the Channel.

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Ministers are also at odds how the deal is even meant to work, with conflicting statements on whether deportations can go ahead if migrants lodge human rights claims.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, filming off Calais, said: “I’m on the Channel today just off Calais to see if the Government’s new deal with France is working. It isn’t.

“There is a boat full of illegal immigrants crossing right in front of me.

“The French warship is escorting it and & making no attempt at all to stop it.”

At the same time, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy sparked fresh confusion by claiming migrants removed under the scheme could still have their human rights claims heard – but in France.

Asked whether human rights claims presented a loophole to the returns deal, she told Sky News: “That’s not the case at all … the deal that we’ve struck will allow people with us to send people back to France who have human rights claims.

“Those claims will be heard in France.

“I know that the Conservative Party has been saying that this is a loophole. It isn’t and we’re really confident about that.”

But the terms of scheme published on Tuesday suggest the opposite.

It states that the UK confirms that at the time of their transfer that person will not have an outstanding human rights claim.

And it also makes clear France will not participate in UK legal proceedings.

The Tories also argue the wording opens the door for lawyers to delay or block removals with last-minute claims.

But Home Office officials insist have they prepared for judicial review challenges against certification of a human rights decisions to be heard by UK courts from France.

Ministers hope the new route –  where migrants in France apply online – will offer a “safe and legal” alternative to the boats.

But those who have already crossed are not eligible, meaning thousands already here won’t be affected.

Only around 50 people a week are expected to be returned under the deal, which would equate to only one in every 17 small boat arrivals.

The new legal route to Britain only applies to people already in France who have not tried to cross illegally.

To qualify, they must apply online and prove they have close family in the UK, come from a country that is likely to get asylum, or are at risk of being trafficked or exploited.

Unaccompanied children, people with criminal records, and anyone who has previously been deported from the UK are banned from applying.

The deal also reveals that Britain is picking up the tab for both directions of travel – paying for the transport of migrants we send back to France and those we bring in legally.

Alp Mehmet from Migration Watch told The Sun: “This Starmer/Macron wheeze has zero chance of working. It won’t discourage migrants, while smugglers will be tempted to pile in even more people into flimsy vessels. It will have the opposite effect to the one intended.”

The deal will remain in force until June 2026 – but the legal route can be paused automatically if France slows down on taking people back.

Despite Labour’s promise to stop the boats, this year is already on track for a record number of arrivals.

More than 25,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats so far in 2025 – up 49 per cent on the same point last year.

PEOPLE smugglers who advertise Channel Crossings or try to flog fake passports online face up to five years in prison, under a new crackdown.

The Home Office is scrambling to beef up their laws after a record 25,000 illegal migrants landed on Britain’s beaches so far this year.

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The grim milestone piles massive pressure on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper – who has vowed to “smash the gangs” and stop the boats.

But the Government has been accused of woefully failing to restore control to UK borders.

Ministers will introduce a new criminal offence under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament.

This will make it a crime to publish material which promotes breaking immigration laws – like flogging small boat crossings, dodgy passports and visas or promising black market work.

These things are already illegal, but ministers say the new law will help beef up the power of the cops and prosecutors.

Anyone caught flouting the law faces five years behind bars or a massive fine.

Ms Cooper said: “Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country – whether on or offline – simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral.

“These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them – wherever they operate.

“We have to stay one step ahead of the ever-evolving tactics of people-smuggling gangs.”

A staggering 80 per cent of migrants arriving on small boats used social media sites like TikTok to plan their journey, according to the Home Office.

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