New borders crisis erupts as Keir Starmer warned extremists can enter UK ‘at will’

Extremists can enter “our country at will” because of Sir ’s open borders policies, the have warned. The Prime Minister was accused of making the UK “the soft touch of Europe on illegal migration” as Channel migrant crossings continued at a record pace.

And the arrest of an alleged Palestinian militant gunman after crossing on a small boat has prompted a new border security crisis. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp urged Labour to deport all foreign criminals and to stop issuing visas to countries that refuse to take them back, tabling amendments to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s Border Security Bill.

Mr Philp said: “These tough new measures show the are prepared to do whatever it takes to deport foreign criminals from the UK.

“If a foreign citizen commits a crime here, we should kick them out – it is as simple as that.

“We can’t allow endless appeals and prevarication – the Government has a duty to protect British citizens from these often dangerous offenders.

“And where another country won’t take back their own citizens – including criminals – then the Government must stop issuing new visas to people from those countries.”

Palestinian asylum seeker Abu Wadee, who has posed for photographs with automatic rifles and boasted of terrorising by sending improvised incendiary kites across the border, was detained by immigration officials on Sunday.

Mr Philp added: “Having called for this man to be arrested and deported immediately, I am glad the authorities have tracked him down, but he should never have been able to get here in the first place.

“Thanks to ’s open borders policy, extremists are able to enter our country at will.

“I am concerned this despicable man will make spurious human rights or other claims to try to stay in the UK – which weak immigration judges are all too likely to accept, based on past form. That is why the new Conservative policy to repeal the Human Rights Act for immigration cases is so important.

“Labour has made our country the soft touch of Europe on illegal migration. They need to get a grip now and back our sensible amendments to the Borders Bill before more dangerous foreign criminals get into the UK.”

On Monday, the proposed plans to compel the Home Secretary to deport any foreign national convicted of a crime.

This includes those charged with, or convicted of, immigration offences.

This would replace current rules where foreign offenders can only be deported if they are sentenced to a year behind bars.

On Monday, Labour revealed foreign criminals could be made to wear electronic tags and subject to night-time curfews while the Government is waiting to deport them.

An amendment to the Border Security Asylum and Immigration Bill will mean tougher restrictions can be put on people who have committed a crime or have been deemed a threat to the public but cannot yet be removed.

People who breach the restrictions could face jail time, under the plans set to be tabled in the legislation on Monday.

A government spokesman has said that ministers are “committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities”.

The spokesman added: “Any foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.

“For the foreign criminals whose removal we are pursuing, but that we are presently unable to deport, we are introducing tougher restrictions including the use of electronic tags, night-time curfews and exclusion zones.

“Breaching these conditions would be grounds for arrest and the individual could face imprisonment.”

Officials have said that the law currently limits the Government’s ability to put constraints on people who have served a prison sentence but cannot immediately be deported, or people who have not committed a crime but are considered “high harm”.

Mr Philp has warned foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers are exploiting human rights laws that are “very vaguely worded”.

He declared Parliament is being “circumvented” and “trumped” by the European Court of Human Rights, adding that judges are not using enough “common sense” when assessing immigration cases.

It follows a series of hugely controversial decisions, including one where an Albanian criminal avoided deportation after claiming his son didn’t like foreign chicken nuggets and a Pakistani paedophile jailed for child sex offences who escaped removal from the UK as it would be “unduly harsh” on his children.

Also on Monday, the tabled a series of amendments to Labour’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, calling for tougher measures to end “mass low-skilled low-wage immigration into the UK.”

Migrants should not be able to bring their partners to the UK for at least two years, the proposed, and foreign workers will have to earn at least £38,700.

The party proposed revoking someone’s asylum claim if they return to their country of origin – even for a holiday.

Other suggested changes include anyone who has been granted a work visa will be unable to apply for any form of benefits from the Government, including housing support.

More than 4,000 people have arrived in the UK so far this year, according to Home Office figures.

Some 237 people made the journey in four boats on Sunday, taking the provisional total this year to 4,131.

This is 23% higher than the same period in 2024 (3,358) and also 33% up on 2023 (3,150), and a further increase of 87% compared with 2022 (2,212).

Migrants have crossed on 10 consecutive days.

The said it will ensure migrants are “self-sufficient and do not rely on the state”.

Mrs Badenoch said: “We are changing our entire approach on immigration. We have to put an end to the era of mass low-skilled, low-wage immigration.

“Our amendment to the immigration Bill will raise the salary threshold for work visas to £38,700. Labour will likely oppose it. They aren’t serious about getting numbers down.”

Asked about the proposed amendments to the legislation, which would mean migrants will have to earn more to qualify for a work visa and will not be able to bring partners to the UK unless they have been married for two years, he told Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well, the intended effect is to bring to an end the era of mass migration.

“For 20 or 30 years now, we’ve seen huge numbers arriving in the UK, often coming to work on low wages and in low-skilled jobs and it’s time, we think, that ends.

“We think actually it’s bad for the taxpayer, because recent OBR analysis shows that people coming here on lower wages actually cost the general taxpayer money because they consume more in services than they pay in tax. It obviously puts pressure on public services, and in some cases, can undermine social cohesion as well.

“What we should focus on is a much smaller number of very high-skilled migrants, rather than mass low-skilled migration.”