Yvette Cooper refuses to set goal for slicing Channel crossings saying the problem is just too ‘complicated’ after one other 900 migrants arrived in two days

Yvette Cooper refused to set a target for cutting Channel crossings today after hundreds more migrants arrived. 

The Home Secretary insisted the problem was ‘complex’ and she would not resort to ‘gimmicks’.

The stance came as Ms Cooper was pressed on the lack of a ‘yardstick’ to judge the government by on illegal immigration.

In an interview with the BBC‘s Laura Kuenssberg recorded as she visited Rome for talks on the issue yesterday, the Cabinet minister argued that Labour had ‘intensified’ border security measures since winning power. 

Channel crossings have continued to rise, with more than 21,000 migrants having made the perilous journey since July. 

There were 609 arrivals on Thursday making it the busiest December day for crossings on record. Another 298 were brought ashore on Friday, according to provisional figures.

Some 34,880 people have arrived in Britain on small boats so far this year, up 20 per cent on this time last year but down 22 per cent on 2022.

Ms Cooper said: ‘These levels are far too high, this is dangerous what’s happening.

‘Of course we want to continue to progress, of course we want to see the boat crossings come down as rapidly as possible.’

However, she repeatedly declined to give any firm commitment on numbers.

And she was forced to fend off claims that migration has fallen down the list of priorities – after not appearing among Keir Starmer’s ‘milestones’ to be hit before the next election.

‘We have made clear border security… is one of the foundations,’ Ms Cooper said.

‘We have made it clear we need to reduce both legal migration and illegal migration, it is a clear priority for the government in terms of tackling these dangerous boat crossings.’

Ms Cooper suggested she was open to use a third country to process asylum claims, saying she will look at ‘whatever works’.

That would be different from the Rwanda scheme, which would have seen migrants sent to live in the African nation permanently. 

Referencing an agreement where Albania will process claims for Italy, the Home Secretary said: ‘We will look at whatever works. Clearly everything has to meet proper international standards, clearly it has to be effective and has to deliver results.

‘The interesting thing about the Italy-Albania arrangement, and you’re right that hasn’t fully started yet, at the heart of this is a plan to effectively fast-track cases from predominantly safe countries.

‘We are interested in doing that in the UK, to fast-track decisions for people arriving from countries that are predominantly safe, where we should be able to take those decisions swiftly and be able to return people swiftly. That hasn’t happened in the past. So we are interested to develop that in the UK, we think that’s an important principle.’

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said ministers ‘have effectively given up on protecting our borders’.

‘It is revealing that stopping illegal immigration isn’t even one of Keir Starmer’s six milestones, and their lack of a deterrent has led to small boat crossings going up by 18 per cent since the election,’ he said.

‘Shockingly Labour now can’t even tell the public when these numbers will fall, and as they struggle to answer simple questions the British people are paying millions of pounds a day to house illegal asylum seekers in hotels – and all because Labour scrapped our deterrent on day one.’

Ms Cooper flagged that nearly 13,500 migrants have been removed from Britain since the election.

Labour previously pledged to return more people who do not have a right to stay in the UK halfway through their first year in office than any other six-month period since 2018.

The increase comes after the government reversed the Tory position of refusing to consider asylum claims from those who arrive on small boats. 

The Home Office said almost 13,460 people had been removed since the country went to the polls on July 4, the highest rate since 2019.

It claimed the Government was ‘on track’ to deliver on its returns pledge, which would need to be met by early January.

Ms Cooper pledged a crackdown on ‘exploitative’ illegal working to address ‘the promise of illegal jobs that are used by criminal smuggling gangs to sell spaces in small boats’.

New technology including body-worn cameras and fingerprint kits will be rolled out next year to more than 1,200 immigration enforcement officers in a bid to strengthen evidence that can be collected in raids, the Government said.

A new ‘upstream communications campaign’ aimed at debunking lies about job prospects in the UK told by people-smuggling gangs to encourage small boat crossings has also been launched, it said.

It will include warnings to potential migrants about the exploitative practices of employers and the inhumane living conditions faced by workers, based on real testimonies, the department said.

Ms Cooper said: ‘Illegal working is a blight on our economy. It is deeply exploitative and undercuts those employers who do the right thing and play by the rules.

‘Since the election, we have intensified our efforts to crackdown on exploitation and illegal working – the number of operations and arrests are up, and we are on track to meet our target of increasing removals to the highest level for five years.

‘I am boosting the capabilities of our immigration enforcement officers to make sure they have the tools they need to further crack down on illegal working and shine a light on the hidden economy and false promises that criminal smuggling gangs are using to encourage people to cross the Channel in small boats.

‘If you employ people illegally, you will face consequences. The rules must be respected and enforced.’

Between July 5 and December 7, a total of 13,460 returns were recorded, of which 3,690 were enforced for people with no legal right to remain in the UK, according to Government statistics.

The remaining 9,770 are understood to be voluntary returns and foreign national offenders, though it is unclear how many of either category are represented in the combined figure.

This compares with 2,960 enforced returns over the same period in 2023, an increase of 25 per cent.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘These return figures just continue the upward trajectory we have been on under the previous government.

‘In their first three months, returns of people crossing by small boat amounted to under 5 per cent of the arrivals in that period and small boat returns were actually lower than the period before the election.’

Mr Philp said that an increase of more than 6,000 in the number of asylum seekers being temporarily housed in hotels since the end of June was also ‘making a mockery of Labour’s pledge to end hotel use’.

‘Starmer and Cooper are completely failing to control our borders and should hang their heads in shame,’ the shadow minister said.