'Migrant emergency' declared by No10 as Labour accused of blocking Rwanda boat plan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaving No10 (Image: Getty)

Labour has been blasted for blocking the Government’s Rwanda deportation plan as Downing Street declared a “migrant emergency”.

Wednesday was the busiest day for Channel crossings since the start of 2024 with 514 people making the journey in 10 boats.

More than 4,000 people are thought to have crossed the English Channel so far this year, Home Office figures show. Channel crossings continued on Thursday.

MPs are not scheduled to debate the Government’s Rwanda Bill until Westminster returns from its Easter break as ministers stand off with the Lords.

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The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The legislation is dealing with a migration emergency and we are introducing that legislation as soon as we possibly can to reduce the number of people taking the perilous journey across the Channel.”

He added that it was “frustrating” that the House of Lords had not passed the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on Wednesday night, making changes to the legislation that mean it has to go back to the Commons for consideration.

He said: “It is exactly because we are still seeing people making this perilous journey across the Channel, including people in the last few days, that the PM wants parliamentarians across the House to get behind this Bill and to stop the boats.”

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 4,043.

This is 10% higher than the total at this point last year, which was 3,683, and 25% higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 3,229.

There were 10 boats detected on Wednesday, which suggests an average of around 51 people per boat.

There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The legislation to stop the boats, one of Mr Sunak’s key pledges, will now return to the Commons next month and will not pass before Easter.

Ministers have sought to blame Labour for the delays, with Dame Andrea Leadsom saying she was “disgusted that Labour tried to stop it in the Lords last night yet again”.

She added: “We’re absolutely determined to get that Bill through. It’s coming back to the Commons on April 15 and we will be overturning the seven amendments in the Lords that we’ve already overturned once this week.

“We will do it again for the sake of what this country needs, which is to stop illegal migration.”

Sir Keir Starmer said his party was committed to stopping small boats crossing the Channel.

He said: “There’s no ifs or buts. It’s a massive problem and … it gives this sense of having lost control of our borders.

“What I wouldn’t do … is to grandstand or just try and find headlines in relation to gimmicks that won’t work. I think the Rwanda gimmick is a gimmick that won’t work.”

He also pointed to Labour commitments to process asylum claims more quickly to get people out of hotels and work on return agreements to send migrants back.