More than 400 illegal migrants arrived in small boats on Monday morning—just as Prime Minister Keir Starmer was delivering a speech promising to tighten border controls. The new wave brings this year’s total crossings to over 12,000, with nearly 2,000 arriving in the last two weeks alone. At the current pace, Britain is on track to surpass last year’s figure of 37,000 by late summer.
Starmer’s new Immigration White Paper outlines stricter language and skills requirements, along with a plan to double the citizenship qualifying period to 10 years. But critics, including Nigel Farage, say the measures are cosmetic and ignore the core issue: Britain’s continued adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights. Reform UK’s surge in recent local elections has rattled both Labour and the Conservatives, but with no net migration target and record Channel arrivals, many remain unconvinced by Starmer’s “tough talk.”
