It’s yet another bad start to the week for Labour as the tide of illegal Channel crossings shows no sign of slowing. More than 20,000 people have now crossed the Channel in small boats since Labour came to power. The total for the year now stands at an eye-watering 33,684 – with more crossings in Labour’s five months of power than during the preceding six under the Conservatives. And is 15% higher than the same period last year…
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wasted no time sticking the boot in, describing the chaos as the “inevitable consequence of Starmer’s weak and vacuous policy on small boat crossings” and just “another page in their catalogue of failure”. Meanwhile, Labour is resorting to the desperate spin of blaming the weather…
Yvette Cooper is expected to make a statement on these grim figures having just signed off nearly £1 million in payouts to Iraq – a drop in the ocean of UK asylum spending, in a so-called “landmark” deal to stop “irregular” migration. Smashing records rather than smashing gangs…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”