Jenrick blames PM for Channel deaths after scrapping Rwanda scheme

Sir Keir Starmer was last night accused of ‘costing lives’ by scrapping the Rwanda scheme after it was revealed that the number of migrants dying in the Channel has increased more than fourfold over the past year.

The death of a baby when a boat sank on Thursday night was the 53rd fatality in 2024 – compared with just 12 last year.

Last night Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick placed the blame for the deaths at the feet of the Prime Minister for removing the ‘deterrent effect’ of the scheme.

Mr Jenrick said: ‘Sir Keir’s arrogance is costing lives.

‘He scrapped the Rwanda scheme because he thought he knew best, when actually he should have strengthened it.

The Prime Minister was accused of ‘costing lives’ by removing the Rwanda Scheme following the increase of migrants dying in the Channel

Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick blamed Sir Keir’s removal of the deterrent for the deaths

‘He’s playing politics with people’s lives. You need a deterrent to stop people making the journey in the first place.

‘Now Europe is looking to imitate the Rwanda scheme, while Starmer just lurches from one disaster to another. It’s been 100 days from Hell.’

A total of 647 people made the crossing in ten boats on Friday, taking the number who have made the journey this year to 28,204 – almost 8 per cent higher than at the same point last year.

The Refugee Council has forecast that 62,800 people, including Channel migrants, will be granted refugee status out of nearly 119,000 individual asylum seekers whose claims Labour inherited from the Tories.

The death of the baby off the coast of Wissant in the Pas-de-Calais region was announced by the French authorities on Thursday evening. The child was found among 68 migrants rescued from a dinghy.

Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said the child was believed to be of Iraqi-Kurdish nationality and had been on the boat with his parents and two other children.

He added: ‘The group of migrants of 68 people included 52 men, 12 women and four children. Among them, the lifeless body of a four-month-old baby was found. They were mainly of Iranian, Iraqi, Albanian and Eritrean nationality.’

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said there had been more deaths this year than in the previous three years combined. He added: ‘This procession of death and tragedy shows we need to rethink our approach. Lives will continue to be lost if we carry on as it is.’

Labour campaigned during the election on a manifesto pledge to scrap the Tory scheme – which had already cost around £310 million – promising a ‘more effective’ approach to tackling illegal immigration to replace it.

On his first full day as Prime Minister, Sir Keir said he would end the ‘gimmick’ of deporting migrants arriving in the UK illegally. He has used powers within the Tories’ Illegal Migration Act to lift the ban on migrants claiming asylum and to scrap the duty on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to remove them to a third country.

Migrants being escorted by Border Force officials to the Port of Dover in Kent on Thursday

But pressure on the Government over the axing of the Rwanda scheme has grown with the expectation that the European Union will soon announce a similar scheme, with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen calling for ‘innovative ways to counter illegal migration’.

In a letter to the bloc’s leaders, she said they should consider the development of ‘return hubs outside the EU’ for those with no right to stay in Europe.

The Refugee Council estimated that nearly 53 per cent of the 118,882 migrants awaiting a decision on their asylum claim will be successful, based on previous rates for the nationalities of those seeking refuge in the UK.

A third come from Afghanistan, where 96 per cent of claimants are successful, Iran (82 per cent), Syria (99 per cent), Eritrea (99 per cent) and Sudan (99 per cent).

Responding to the latest death, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘The blame is firmly on the ruthless criminal gangs that exploit people into undertaking these dangerous journeys. That is why the Prime Minister’s primary focus is on smashing the gangs and stopping these journeys from happening.’