In 2023 Suella Braverman, then Tory Home Secretary in charge of immigration, pushed through her Illegal Migration Act – but since then over 100,000 people have arrived by small boat
More than 100,000 people have arrived by small boat since Suella Braverman’s flagship law to end Channel crossings passed, latest figures show.
The former Home Secretary – now a key member of Nigel Farage’s top team – stood up in the Commons in 2023 and pledged to stop the boats by pushing through the Illegal Migration Act. But analysis by The Mirror revealed that this week it reached the landmark in spite of her promise.
Since the legislation got royal assent on July 20, 2023, 100,673 people have reached the UK after making the dangerous Channel crossing. At the time she pledged: “This government, this Prime Minister, will act now to stop the boats.”
The figure is more than half of the 200,000 people who have reached the UK by small boat since 2018. Mrs Braverman pushed for the Illegal Migration Act after predecessor Priti Patel’s Nationalities and Borders Act failed to end the crossings.
Labour MP Luke Charters told The Mirror: “This is Suella Braverman’s small boats crisis. Her time as Tory Home Secretary was a masterclass in performative cruelty, but a total failure otherwise. The irony of right-wing parties ramping up rhetoric, despite their own MPs once being responsible for this, shows they are more interested in scapegoats than solutions.”
And a Labour source said: “Reform recruits Robert Jenrick (who was Immigration Minister under Ms Braverman) and Suella Braverman were all at sea over small boat arrivals. Their total failures in government left an almighty mess for Labour. But now they want the public to forget. They’ve got a brass neck.
“This Home Secretary is doing the hard yards to tackle these crossings. Jenrick and Braverman are yet to apologise. That’s the contrast.”
Introducing the Illegal Migration Bill to MPs in March 2023, Ms Braverman – who defected to Reform in January – said: “Two months ago, the Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak) made a promise to the British people. He said anyone entering this country illegally will be detained and swiftly removed. No half measures.
“The Illegal Migration Bill will fulfil that promise.” The legislation barred people who came by small boat after March 7 2023 from claiming asylum in the UK – meaning Home Office decision-making dropped as thousands languished in hotels.
Between March 7 and the general election on July 4 the following year, 39,861 people arrived in the UK by small boat. This included 28,649 who came after Mrs Braverman’s act passed.
Jo White, who chairs Labour’s Red Wall Caucus, told The Mirror: “Labour inherited a failed system, where people smuggling gangs were transporting people into this country on a rapid basis. The highest number that arrived in a single month was 8,631 in August 2022.
“This same year was also when highest recorded number arrived, when over 45,000 people landed on our shores. Conservatives like (Shadow Home Secretary) Chris Philp would prefer that we forget that they were in charge at that time.
“In the 18 months since Labour took control, over 60,000 people have been returned. It is also important to know that 105 major smuggling gangs have been disrupted. The French have also confirmed that over 42,000 crossings have been blocked by them.”
Shortly after the general election, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper lifted the ban on small boat arrivals claiming asylum – arguing it had simply allowed a huge backlog to build up. Labour’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which passed in December last year, repealed sections of Mrs Braverman’s legislation.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has warned the Government must deal with small boat crossings or Reform could be allowed to dismantle the asylum system altogether. She has unveiled a string of measures aimed at discouraging journeys, including 30 month reviews of refugee status – meaning those granted protection could be removed if their homeland is deemed safe.
The Government is also consulting on ways to speed up removing families with children if their asylum claim is refused. Last month a new agreement with France was announced – with hundreds more French police set to patrol beaches to stop crossings. A new detention centre will be set up in Dunkirk to send intercepted migrants back to their homelands.
The Mirror has contacted Mrs Braverman’s office for comment. Earlier this week Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, told The Express: “Reform will not just stop the invasion, but reverse it. We will detain and deport all illegal migrants in Britain, and do what is necessary to finally restore law and order.”
Ms Mahmood has vowed to introduce more safe routes – a move campaigners say is critical. Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at Refugee Council, told The Mirror: “In recent years, refugees have been pushed towards taking dangerous journeys in small boats, and many have sadly lost their lives. Each death in the Channel is a tragedy that may have been avoided if more safe and legal routes were available for people to reach sanctuary in the UK.”