Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is facing a borders crisis (Image: Home Office)
New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitted migrant smugglers are “wreaking havoc on our borders” despite Labour's vow to “smash the gangs”.
A staggering 1,097 asylum seekers crossed the Channel in 17 boats on Saturday – Ms Mahmood’s first day in office.
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This took the total past 30,000 in record time, ramping up pressure on Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers after Friday’s chaotic reshuffle following Angela Rayner’s tax scandal.
Ms Mahmood confirmed she will “explore all options to restore order to our immigration system”, adding that the first Channel migrants will be sent back to France “imminently”.
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Nothing is “off the table”, sources close to the Home Secretary said.
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The Home Secretary said on Sunday night: “These small boat crossings are utterly unacceptable and the vile people smugglers behind them are wreaking havoc on our borders.
"Thanks to our deal with France, people crossing in small boats can now be detained and removed to France and I expect the first returns to take place imminently.
"Protecting the UK border is my priority as Home Secretary and I will explore all options to restore order to our immigration system."
Ms Mahmood will meet her counterparts from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand in London this week for talks on how to stop the smuggling gangs.
The Five Eyes security alliance will also discuss new measures to tackle child sexual abuse online and the spread of deadly synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, the Home Office said.
Ms Mahmood added: "Rebuilding our reputation on the world stage is how we tackle serious organised crime and secure our borders.
"We have already reset our relationship with the EU, struck a people smuggling deal with the G7 and operationalised a first-of its-kind returns agreement with France.
"We will agree new measures to protect our borders with our Five Eyes partners, hitting people smugglers hard.
"The Five Eyes might be drawn from different corners of the globe, but we are united by our alliance. As the security threats we all face become more complex and span continents, we are stronger and safer together."
Ms Mahmood took over as Home Secretary from Yvette Cooper, who became Foreign Secretary, in a major Cabinet reshuffle on Friday following the resignation of Angela Rayner over her tax affairs.
Some 1,097 migrants crossed the Channel in 17 boats on Saturday, bringing the total in 2025 to 30,100, Home Office figures show.
This is up 37% on this point last year (22,028) and 37% higher than at this stage in 2023 (21,918).
Ms Mahmood is expected to rewrite human rights laws to prevent foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers from avoiding deportation.
She is set to tighten up “the interpretation and the application” of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to a family life.
This could be done in the form of new guidance or even legislation.
The new Home Secretary last week warned that British judges are taking a “maximalist” approach to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The new Home Secretary is admitting that after over a year of Labour government gangs are ‘wreaking havoc’ on our borders.
“These are the same gangs Labour promised to ‘smash’ at the last election. They are now admitting they have failed.
Shabana Mahmood took over as Home Secretary on Friday (Image: Getty)
More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year (Image: Getty)
“If they had any sense, they would bring back the Rwanda plan and immediately deport all illegal arrivals the minute their feet touched British soil.”
Mr Philp added: “This has been the worst year in history for illegal Channel crossings and we clearly have a full-blown borders crisis.
“They tore up the only deterrent this country had on day one, our Rwanda plan, and have replaced it with nothing but hollow slogans.
“They might have changed Home Secretary, but the thousands of young men still streaming across the Channel and the fact this year has broken all records for illegal crossing shows this Labour government is too weak to do what is needed.”
Defence Secretary John Healey on Sunday confirmed military planners are scrambling to find barracks to house asylum seekers and “accelerate” the closure of migrant hotels.
They are working alongside the Home Office to end the asylum accommodation crisis, which has led to taxpayers shelling out ￡5.7m a day on hotels and migrants being moved into flats and houses across the country.
Ms Mahmood is expected to set out the plans within weeks.
Mr Healey said: “What you’re seeing from Keir Starmer now is a recognition that this isn’t just a job for the Home Office.
“It’s an all of Government effort, and we, in the Ministry of Defence, will play our part.
“We’ve got planners alongside the Home Office. We’re looking at military and non-military sites for potential temporary accommodation.
“And this is about trying to restore control of our borders, which was lost over the last five or six years and the confidence of the British people that we can keep them secure and we can reflect our values.”
He added: “Military planners are alongside the Home Office, planners in Border Command and planners alongside the Home Office, looking at the way we can accelerate the closure of asylum hotels, the development of alternative accommodation that can deal with people who are coming to this country illegally, who may need to be processed, may not have a right to stay here and will be deported in bigger numbers as well.”
A new asylum white paper will also propose measures to reduce the help available to small boat arrivals.
Ministers are also understood to be close to securing a migrant returns pact with Germany.
This is expected to cover asylum seekers known to have travelled through Germany on their way to northern France.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Head of Policy, said: “Labour have allowed tens of thousands of fighting age men to enter the country and that shows no sign of letting up.
“It’s clear Labour are focussed on just tinkering around the edges instead of taking the necessary action required on the ECHR.
“Only Reform will leave outdated treaties and foreign courts.
“We will detain and deport illegal migrants.”
Mr Yusuf claimed British people are being "subjected to the Afghanistan culture" as he defended his party's stance on deportations.
Appearing on Sky News, Zia Yusuf was pressed by presenter Trevor Phillips over Nigel Farage's suggestion that women could be deported back to the Taliban-ruled country.
Mr Phillips asked: "Farage said you would deport women back to Afghanistan.
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"They could justifiably claim a fear of persecution. Would you send women back to Afghanistan?"
Mr Yusuf replied: "Why were the Tories OK with thousands of military-age men from Afghanistan? That's why mothers were protesting in Epping - because it was British women that were subjected to that very culture.
"You just laid out the Afghanistan culture that British people are being subjected to."
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