LABOUR’S “smash the gangs” vow on illegal immigration was branded a disaster last night as small-boat arrivals hit a three-year high.
hit out after the figure made a mockery of PM promise to break up .
Labour’s ‘smash the gangs’ vow on illegal immigration was branded a disaster last nightCredit: EPA
Over 41k migrants made the perilous Channel crossing in 2025Credit: AFP
A total of 41,472 migrants made the perilous crossing in 2025, well up from 35,816 in 2024 and the 29,437 in 2023.
It was nine per cent below 2022’s high of 45,774.
Under the in August, 193 migrants were sent back and 195 arrived.
Mr Farage said: “Smash the gangs is a disaster, the one-in, one-out deal is a farce and the numbers coming over are huge.
“Many of the young men that have arrived last year will do us great harm.”
Shadow Home Secretary said quitting the was the only way to take effective action.
He said: “There is no deterrent and anyone who crosses the Channel knows they can invoke human rights law and remain indefinitely.
“ lack the backbone to confront that truth.”
Home Secretary announced tougher asylum reforms in November to try to deter arrivals.
The proposals, not yet law, sparked a backlash from some Labour MPs.
Reform’s Nigel Farage hit out after at Starmer over his promise to break up people-smuggling networksCredit: PA Bank nails traffickers
By
HUMAN trafficking gangs are being chased down through hi-tech trawling of bank accounts.
One ring was uncovered after a bank’s experts analysed the finances of a 34-year-old customer.
Artificial intelligence spotted a pattern of payments to classified ads, flights to Romania and top-up payments for mobile phone use.
Jas Narang, of Santander UK, said: “We have implemented an AI tool to detect suspicious activity on customer accounts, helping us uncover potential cases of human trafficking and escalate them to the National Crime Agency.
“This is a first for Santander and takes our financial crime controls and coverage to the next level.”
There were more than 19,000 referrals of potential modern slavery victims to the authorities in 2024, a rise of 13 per cent on 2023.
London’s Metropolitan Police has previously described modern slavery and human trafficking as “hidden crimes”.
It said they can be difficult for the public to spot.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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