Yvette Cooper under fire for claiming responsibility for drop in small boat numbers in July and August

Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has come under fire for putting a “positive spin” on small boat crossings, saying numbers are “significantly lower” than in previous years.

One of Keir Starmer’s key promises was to “destroy criminal gangs” and tackle dangerous migrant border crossings, after the previous government scrapped the Rwanda plan.

Speaking ahead of a summit with the prime minister and law enforcement officials on the small boat issue, Cooper told broadcasters: “We have this dangerous situation. The criminal gangs are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.

“In the first half of the year, the number of crossings we inherited from the previous government was at a record high for spring crossings.

The Labour Party came to power on July 5, 2024

“The numbers in July and August are lower than in previous years, but we have also seen lives lost and we still see these criminal gangs active along the northern French coast.

“These gangs should not be allowed to get away with it and that is why we are determined to tackle them.”

Alp Mehmet, chair of Migrationwatch UK, slammed the Home Secretary, saying the Labour government has done or said nothing in its short time in power to discourage the number of boats crossing the border.

Mehmet said: “This puts a positive spin on a regrettable situation. Nothing Yvette Cooper and Sir Keir Starmer have done or said so far has had any impact on the flow of small boats.

“The threat of destroying the gangs only encourages them to fill the rickety barrels. Thousands more will come and sadly many more will die trying to get here.”

Four migrants die trying to cross English Channel, while 60 others are rescued

At least 12 migrants died on Tuesday while attempting to cross the English Channel

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At least 12 migrants died Tuesday off the coast of northern France as they attempted to cross the English Channel, the deadliest small boat disaster so far this year.

According to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, the victims are believed to be from Eritrea and most of them were women.

According to the French coast guard, at least 19 people have died in 2024 before Tuesday’s incident, including nine since early July.

In 2023, 12 migrants are reported to have died during the crossing or been reported missing.

Asked where asylum seekers would now be housed after the government abandoned plans to use RAF Scampton as a holding facility, Cooper said: “We have seen this truly shameful increase in the asylum backlog under the Conservatives that we inherited.

“We also saw much lower returns, much lower returns, than under the previous Labour government.

“The immediate action we have taken is to significantly increase the number of returns since the general election and we are now also working to close the backlog so that we can put an end to these very expensive asylum hotels. And in the case of Scampton, it was incredibly expensive for this one site, which was also very much opposed in the local community.”