Keir Starmer defends record on migrant crisis as UK braces for 'tidal wave of illegal migrants this summer'

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman has defended Labour's record on the migrant crisis as the Prime Minister has been warned of a tidal wave of illegal immigrants arriving through the summer.Today is the fifth day in a row that hundreds of migrants have launched from French and Belgian beaches, taking advantage of a run of good weather in the Channel.GB News exclusively revealed three boats crossed yesterday, carrying at least 150 people in UK waters. On Friday, 394 migrants reached the UK, the following day 287 people successfully made the illegal crossing and on Sunday, 231 people crossed over the Channel unlawfully. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say If today’s launches make it to UK waters, it will take the number of illegal arrivals to more than 1,200 since Friday.Reacting to the crossings over the weekend, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: Shabana Mahmood and Labour have no border control. They are more interested in their leadership squabbles than keeping out illegal immigrants.We face a tidal wave of illegal immigrants this summer as a result. Labour has returned only seven per cent of small boat illegal immigrants because they refuse to leave the ECHR.With 93 per cent allowed to stay, no wonder they keep coming. We must ban asylum claims by illegal immigrants, leave the ECHR and stop the courts intervening to allow illegal immigrants to stay.This will enable small boat illegal immigrants to all be deported within a week of arrival - back to their country of origin if possible or a safe third country if not. “Then the crossings will soon stop. But Labour is too weak to do this.A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: We are committed to working together...migrants arriving by small boats are for the first time being detained and returned.Whilst total small boat arrivals were 40,280 people in the year ending December 2025, only 2,750 were returned in the year ending March 2026, according to data from the Home Office.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSMigrant boat launches from furthest away beach ever recorded as smugglers evade French patrolKeir Starmer issued chilling warning as Britain set to become the 'sex crime capital of the world'One foreign murderer a week deported as Labour hails removal of nearly 10,000 criminalsThis is a 6.8 per cent return rate for people arriving on small boats.The People’s Channel also revealed today a migrant boat launched from the furthest away beach ever recorded.A migrant dinghy was spotted leaving a beach south of the port of Dieppe in Normandy at around 8am today, approximately 100 miles south of the beaches around Dunkirk more commonly used by people smugglers.Authorities dispatched a lifeboat from Dieppe to intercept and escort the vessel as it made its way into the English Channel.Speaking to GB News, a senior maritime security source said this was an indication organised crime gangs are expanding their operations to avoid detection from the authorities.They said it was a shocking illustration of the desperate lengths the criminal gangs will go to in order to avoid enhanced police patrols further north.This comes as the UK Government agreed a new £660million deal to enhance security across the French coast in an attempt to curb the crossings, with hundreds more police being deployed in the area. The greater police presence is likely to have pushed smugglers to new locations - across the border in Belgium or further south along the French coast.Under the new deal, £500million will be invested to strengthen enforcement activity on beaches in northern France, with a further conditional £160million available depending on the success of new tactics being deployed.It marks the first time funding of this kind has been made explicitly conditional on results and a measurable reduction in migrant crossings.The additional funding will be cut off after one year if the new approach fails to deliver.Almost 1,100 law enforcement, intelligence and military personnel will be deployed along the French coast as part of the package. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter