Rishi Sunak has claimed that his plan to tackle small boats is now working, as he announced two more barges to house asylum seekers arriving via the English Channel.
The prime minister used a speech in Kent to say the number of migrants making the crossing were down by 20 per cent since last year and boasted: “Our plan is starting to work”.
Mr Sunak defended putting asylum seekers on barges – and revealed that the government had secured two new vessels to house 1,000 people, beyond the 500 migrants set to be placed in a barge off Dorset within a fortnight.
He also announced that two new large sites will open at Wethersfield and Scampton to accommodate asylum seekers – saying the facilities would take in nearly 3,000 by the autumn.
Labour accused Mr Sunak of offering himself a “self-congratulatory pat on the back” despite ongoing crossings, while the Lib Dems said the number of failed asylum seekers being returned remained “exceptionally low”
Under pressure to fulfil his “stop the boats” pledge, Mr Sunak said his returns deal with Albania was having an impact, leading to 1,800 Albanians being sent back in the past six months.
The number of Albanians arriving on small boats had fallen by 90 per cent, said Mr Sunak– arguing that his crackdown can have a deterrent effect on small boat crossings. The trend was “proof that our deterrence strategy can work”, said the PM.
However, Home Office research last year found that there was “no evidence” that crackdown policies influence the behaviour of migrants making the journey to the UK.
A Home Office source told The Times that ministers were under “demented” assumptions the deterrent effects – with the government promising to detent and deport small boat arrivals under Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill.
Officials are said to be “despairing” about trying to putting the measures in the bill in place, saying illegal migration would have to fall to below 10,000 a year to make mass detention possible.
“When we said we would stop the boats I meant it – and that’s what we’re delivering,” said Mr Sunak on Monday, who admitted the crossings would continue this summer.
“We still have a long way to go. But in the five months since I launched the plan, crossings are now down 20 per cent compared to last year,” he said. “With grit and determination, the government can fix this and we are using every tool at our disposal.”
Analysis of provisional Home Office data suggests that 7,610 people had been detected crossing the Channel, compared with 9,954 at the same point in 2022 – a 23.5 per cent decrease. There were around 45,000 small boats arrivals last year.
But crossings are heavily influenced by the weather, with recent bad weather thought to be a factor in curtailing the number of journeys. The summer months typically see higher numbers making the journey.
Mr Sunak played down the possibility that poor weather may have caused small-boat crossings to fall. “Crossings elsewhere in Europe are up by almost a third over a similar time period,” he said, insisting that the UK fall is down to “the actions we’ve put in place”.
Mr Sunak also said the partnership with France to boost patrols on the other side of the Channel stopped around 33,000 crossings last year – 40 per cent more than the year before.
However, Sir Keir Starmer attacked Mr Sunak for producing “policies that aren’t working, then the reannouncement of the same policy, with a self-congratulatory pat on the back”. The Labour leader added: “It feels like groundhog day and it’s costing the taxpayer a fortune.”
The Lib Dems’ home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael accused Mr Sunak of “cynical spin” – pointing to the asylum backlog remaining at a record high and returns remaining “exceptionally low”.
Mr Carmichael said “clarity and transparency” was needed on how long barges will stay in place. “The government’s approach to asylum is immoral, ineffective and incredibly expensive for the taxpayer – and their awful small boats bill will be no different.”
Mr Sunak also confirmed a new policy of asking hotels to make sure single male asylum seekers share hotel rooms. It follows protests by some at cramped accommodation in Pimlico, London.
“If you’re coming here illegally, claiming sanctuary from death, torture or persecution, then you should be willing to share a taxpayer-funded hotel room in central London,” the PM said.
Ministers will roll out a national “Operation Maximise” policy asking hotels to try to put multiple single adult males in one room. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said on Sunday it was a “completely fair and reasonable approach”.
The decision comes amid a major row over a group of asylum seekers who staged a protest after being forced to give up single rooms at a hotel in Pimlico in central London.
The group initially refused to stay at the Comfort Inn after the Home Office had asked them to sleep “four people per room”. Mr Jenrick said “almost all of the migrants in question” agreed to share rooms.
Ms Braverman will give a further update on the new accommodation plans during a statement in the Commons later on Monday.