PMs

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.

June 28 (UPI) — Protestors took to the streets of Bangkok Saturday, calling for the removal of Thailand’s prime minister, less than a year after she was sworn into office.

Demonstrators blocked streets in the country’s capital city, taking issue with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s phone call with Cambodian leader Hun Sen.

The call was recorded and made public this week. In it, Shinawatra appears to be close with Hun, the former prime minister and ex-military officer who is the current head of the Cambodian Senate and the country’s de facto leader.

Shinawatra has since apologized for the phone call, which took place because of a border dispute between the two countries.

Following the phone call, Thai officials sent a letter of protest to the Cambodian government.

Earlier this week, authorities closed Thailand’s border to travelers looking to cross into Cambodia, following a dispute over scams. One Cambodian soldier has been killed in the rising tensions between the neighboring countries.

More than 6,000 people converged for the protests in heavy rain Saturday, Thai police reported.

Local media reported Saturday that Shinawatra reaffirmed the public’s right to peacefully protest, in a country where previous rulers have been overthrown in military coups, including two of the prime minister’s relatives.

Shinawatra became Thailand’s youngest-ever elected leader when she was sworn into office last August at the age of 37.

The leader of the country’s ruling Pheu Thai Party is the third member of her family to hold the title of Thai Prime Minister.

Her billionaire father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck both led the country during separate periods. The family made its money in the telecom industry.

Thaksin served as Thailand’s prime minister from 2001 until 2006 when he was deposed by the military. He has had previous close ties with Hun and is set to face trial in the coming weeks over charges he insulted the Thai military.

Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister between 2011 and 2014 and was removed by a constitutional court.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Thailand’s capital to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra amid growing anger over a leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday, outraged by a June 15 conversation in which Paetongtarn urged Hun Sen – the current Cambodian Senate president who still wields considerable influence in his country – not to listen to “the other side” in Thailand, including an outspoken Thai army general who she said “just wants to look cool”.

The army commander was in charge of an area where a border clash last month led to one Cambodian soldier being killed. The man was killed on May 28 following an armed confrontation in a contested area.

The leaked phone call with Hun Sen was at the heart of Saturday’s protest and has set off a string of investigations in Thailand that could lead to Paetongtarn’s removal.

Protesters held national flags and signs as they occupied parts of the streets around the Victory Monument in central Bangkok. At a huge stage set up at the monument, speakers expressed their love for Thailand following the intensified border dispute.

“It looks like this is going to be a pretty well-attended rally, certainly a loud voice … Lots of speeches, lots of whistles, lots of noise, all calling in full voice for Prime Minister Paetongtarn to resign,” said Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Bangkok. “They say this conversation has undermined Thailand, has undermined the military, and they are insisting that she step down – it does put her in a very tricky position.”

Many of the leading figures in the protest were familiar faces from a group popularly known as Yellow Shirts, whose clothing colour indicates loyalty to the Thai monarchy. They are longtime foes of Paetongtarn’s father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who reportedly has a close relationship with Hun Sen.

“The political scientists we’ve been speaking to over the last couple of days think it is going to be very difficult for Paetongtarn to survive as prime minister, but the problem then is who would replace her,” Cheng said.

Hun Sen addresses supporters

In Cambodia, Hun Sen on Saturday promised to protect his country’s territory from foreign invaders and condemned what he called an attack by Thai forces last month.

At a 74th anniversary celebration of the foundation of his long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party, Hun Sen claimed the action by the Thai army when it engaged Cambodian forces was illegal.

He said the skirmish inside Cambodian territory was a serious violation of country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, despite Cambodia’s goodwill in attempting to resolve the border issue.

“This poor Cambodia has suffered from foreign invasion, war, and genocide, been surrounded and isolated and insulted in the past but now Cambodia has risen on an equal face with other countries. We need peace, friendship, cooperation, and development the most, and we have no politics and no unfriendly stance with any nation,” Hun Sen said in an address to thousands of party members at the event in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

There is a long history of territorial disputes between the countries. Thailand is still rattled by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded Cambodia the disputed territory where the historic Preah Vihear temple stands. There were sporadic though serious clashes there in 2011. The ruling from the UN court was reaffirmed in 2013, when Yingluck was prime minister.

The scandal has broken Paetongtarn’s fragile coalition government, costing her Pheu Thai Party the loss of its biggest partner, the Bhumjaithai Party.

The departure of Bhumjaithai left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house.

Paetongtarn also faces investigations by the Constitutional Court and the national anticorruption agency. Their decisions could lead to her removal from office.

Sarote Phuengrampan, secretary-general of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said on Wednesday that his agency is investigating Paetongtarn for a serious breach of ethics over the Hun Sen phone call. He did not give a possible timeline for a decision.

Reports said the Constitutional Court can suspend Paetongtarn from duty pending the investigation and could decide as early as next week whether it will take the case. The prime minister said on Tuesday she is not worried and is ready to give evidence to support her case.

“It was clear from the phone call that I had nothing to gain from it, and I also didn’t cause any damage to the country,” she said.

The court last year removed her predecessor from Pheu Thai over a breach of ethics.

Portugal’s ruling centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) is poised to win the most votes in an early parliamentary election, but is short of a full majority, exit polls have shown, paving the way for more political instability in the country.

Sunday’s election, the third in as many years, was called just one year into the minority government’s term after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro failed to win a parliamentary vote of confidence in March when the opposition questioned his integrity over the dealings of his family’s consultancy firm.

Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing, and most opinion polls showed that voters have dismissed the opposition’s criticism.

The election, also dominated by issues such as housing and immigration, follows a decade of fragile governments. And the only one of those governments to have a parliamentary majority collapsed halfway through its term last year.

Exit polls published by the three main television channels – SIC, RTP and TVI – put Montenegro’s AD as receiving between 29 percent and 35.1 percent of the vote, garnering the biggest share but again no parliamentary majority, similar to what happened in the previous election in March 2024.

Outside the polling station where Montenegro voted in the northern city of Espinho, Irene Medeiros, 77, told Reuters the “best candidate must win”, but that she feared more uncertainty ahead.

According to the exit polls, Montenegro’s main rival, the centre-left Socialist Party (PS), garnered between 19.4 percent and 26 percent of the vote, nearly tied with the far-right Chega party’s 19.5 percent to 25.5 percent share, which is higher than the 18 percent it won in 2024. Montenegro has refused to make any deals with Chega.

With that tally, the DA could get between 85 and 96 seats, short of the 116 needed for a majority in Portugal’s 230-seat parliament. It could form a minority government or forge partnerships with smaller parties to obtain a majority.

Most official results are expected by midnight (23:00 GMT).

For the last half century, two parties have dominated politics in Portugal, with the Social Democrats, who head the DA, and the PS alternating in power.

Public frustration with their record in government has fuelled the search and for growth of new alternatives in recent years.

“This campaign was very, very weak, had ridiculous moments, like clownish. Very little was spoken about Portugal within the European Union – it’s like we are not part of it,” teacher Isabel Monteiro, 63, told the Associated Press news agency in Lisbon, adding that she felt “disenchantment” with all parties.

Political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto said the new parliament would likely be similar to the last, and it was impossible to predict how long the government would last, as it depended on factors ranging from the international situation to the AD’s ability to reach deals with other parties.

“The only doubt is whether the AD will form a new minority government … or whether it will form a post-electoral coalition with IL, even if this coalition does not guarantee an absolute majority,”, referring to the pro-business Liberal Initiative (IL) party, according to Reuters.

Shortly after casting his own ballot, Montenegro told reporters he was confident stability could be achieved.

“There is a search for a stable solution, but that will now depend on [people’s] choices,” he said.

A second consecutive minority government in Portugal would dash hopes for an end to the worst spell of political instability in decades for the European Union country of 10.6 million people.

For the past 50 years, two parties have dominated politics, with the Social Democrats, who head the DA, and the Socialist Party alternating in power.