So much for smashing the gangs. New records are being achieved this year for illegals coming across the Channel. The government that promised to close the migrant hotels is paying top prices to secure more of them. Meanwhile they are trying to speed up giving many if the illegals the right to stay, acting as a further lure to many more to come.
We seem to get very little for all the money given to France to police this. Why don’t they puncture the boats before they can leave when they see the shire preparations to sail.? Why do they give them free passage to mid point in the Channel, helping them we are told with life belts and accompanying them with a back up vessel? It would be cheaper and safer to turn them back in the shallows by the shore.
When Border Force or a Lifeboat picks them up in mid Channel to give them free and safer passage to the UK who do they not arrange to arrest and question the boat organiser/ captain on arrival in England? Why are they not interrogated to find out the rest of the gang organising this dangerous business?
Why cant the UK authorities pose as mystery shoppers seeking seats on a small boat from France to help locate and arrest the organisers? We should expect more vigour and imagination in rounding up these boat exploiters. Catching them would be a good deterrent.
April 24, 2025
This government has as much intention of smashing the gangs as it does in stopping the dinghies: it represents a continuation of the last government’s approach.
Like Sunak only slightly worse.
April 24, 2025
My understanding of maritime law is that ship captains must help another vessel in distress. If they take people on board they can divert to the nearest port to offload. If this is the case, why are the RNLI & RN not going into French waters to rescue the dinghies and returning the migrants to Calais?
France wouldn’t like it but the law is the law.
April 24, 2025
@PeteB – they are going into French Waters by request and then removing these criminals from French Waters and bring them to the UK.
Not the UK Navy however they haven’t the man power or the ships, but the RNLI and what is called Border Force do. It would appear they are getting a phone call to say we are leaving the safe haven of the EU and heading your way pick us up
April 24, 2025
The law is the law – well not really and especially in France! In the UK we get three years for some tweets but can shop lift almost as much as we wish it seems! Law is very two tier and driven by power and indeed fashion!
April 24, 2025
Are we sure Keith is acting legally. We seem to keep on buying immigrants from France and then putting them to work in the underworld economy in the UK! Isn’t trading in slaves is illegal? Well, surely there’s a ‘uman rites’ lawyer somewhere to stop this trade!
April 24, 2025
”The Law of the Sea, specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), mandates that ships must assist anyone in danger at sea. This includes rescuing people from distress and bringing them to a “safe harbor”. A safe harbor is a location where the rescued individuals are no longer in danger. Coastal states also have a duty to allow vessels in distress, including those transferring rescued people, to access a port or place of refuge”
Under international law we can return the rescued people to the safe harbour of France (which just happens to be the country of travel origin)
April 24, 2025
@glen cullen – slight correction there is no such thing as ‘International Law’ just rules established by custom or treaty. No democratic Government or Legislators have been involved in creating these customs, as such the normal standards of change/amending or repealing real laws don’t apply – you comply if you find it in your interest, you don’t if it works against you.
April 24, 2025
Agree – and the choice of a ‘safe harbour’ is taken by the skipper and not the rescued people
April 24, 2025
British Government/s pretend they want to stop the boats. The French pretend they’re trying.
If they both genuinely wanted to do what they claim they want to do, they would do it.
The close co-operation between the British and French Authorities to ensure that large numbers of criminal migrants make it safely to the UK proves that they don’t want to stop it.
April 24, 2025
Donna
Correct, and even when they get here it would seem from an official question and reports it cost the taxpayer £145 per night to keep them in a hotel, plus all the usual overheads of any Government run organisation and Services.
I have never paid £145 per night for any holiday in my life, even a recent Cruise on the Queen Mary 2 only cost myself and my wife £135 per night each for a balcony stateroom earlier this year.
Government simply out of control.
April 24, 2025
+1
April 24, 2025
Correct and any payments to France to control the boat people would obviously have been tied to results, but this was beyond Sunak and Starmer!
April 24, 2025
The reason the government doesn’t do as you say is because they have no intention of stopping them. There is a tacit agreement with France that we take our share of migrants. We should ban border farce and RNLI from bringing them ashore with the crews jailed.
April 24, 2025
Correct. We have been secretly “signed up” to the EU’s policy of “sharing the load.”
Coudenhove-Kalgergi rules.
April 24, 2025
@Ian Wraggg – in the days when people were escaping from Cuba and heading for Florida the authorities were not permitted to interact with them until they made shore i.e. stepped out of their boats on to the USA land
Recently in Italy, when Giorgia Meloni took over they (the Italians) forcibly turned the criminal invaders away and stopped an estimated 200000 from entering Europe via Italy – barely a trickle now use that route. It can be done. The UK Government on it lofty perch refuses they would sooner squander UK Taxpayer money on increasing ‘people – trafficking’. The UK Parliament has become a home of corrupt free-loaders, they refuse the power we empowered them with while accepting our money
April 24, 2025
Agreed.
They might as well save everyone the bother and just give them a ticket via Eurostar to here.
April 24, 2025
+1
April 24, 2025
The Left has never believed in borders, hence the impressive commercial service providers (vile smuggling gangs) continue to flourish. Scandal no longer changes policy so we should all get used to it.
April 24, 2025
The left witch obviously includes Cameron, May, Boris, Sunak!
April 24, 2025
Of course, and Major, Gove, Hunt, Hestletine etc etc etc
April 24, 2025
You’ve identified the immigration & net-zero turncoats
April 24, 2025
Hope your women have their hijabs ready. All or men will qualify as ‘trans women’ – but unfortunately will not be allowed to use the women’s toilets.
April 24, 2025
‘smashing the gangs’ – I wonder what their policy & success criteria is ???
April 24, 2025
Putting the issue of the boat people into perspective, they form a highly visible but very small proportion of net immigration into the UK. The new Labour government has planned for 1 million immigrants to the UK each year for the next 5 years
One reason for this is the collapse in the indigenous birth rate. Women in England and Wales had an average of 1.44 children between 2022 and 2023, the lowest rate on record. Only 591,072 babies were born in 2023, fewer than in any year since 1977 and a fall of more than 14,000 on the previous year.
While the number of births fell to a record low last year, the number of women of child-bearing age was at its highest ever at 12 million. This meant the total fertility rate in 2023 was the lowest recorded since 1938. Source: ONS
These days women are far to busy to take a year off to have a child. After all, it takes two incomes to pay the rent, let alone a mortgage. These days women want careers, not children.
April 24, 2025
If it takes two incomes to pay the rent how will migrants afford it?
April 24, 2025
By claiming benefits and living off the backs of others I assume.
April 24, 2025
SG :
The “boat people” are more than just “highly visible” and is the size of their number simply to be gauged by the massive size of legal immigration?
April 24, 2025
Hungary’s birth rate climbed from 1.25 in 2010 to 1.61 in 2021. Why? Because Viktor Orban’s government introduced initial cash handouts, tax incentives, interest-free loans, and subsidised nursery places to encourage motherhood. Maternity leave was also extended. Their birth rate is falling again now, but the government plans to tackle it by exempting mothers from income tax for life. Whether it will work I don’t know, but at least in that country they’re trying something different than encouraging mass immigration.
April 24, 2025
“Gangs” is a misnomer. We should call them “Entepreneurs”. They are often called “evil”, too. Most of them aren’t evil, they are involved in
transporting very willing fee paying customers into a country that ostensibly says it will refuse them entry, but which everyone knows is not serious about it. It even ferries them the last part of the journey, then puts them up in hotels, and refuses to make changes to its laws that would enable it to deport the illegal migrants.
The “gangs” are facilitating the illegal activities of the migrants. We should focus on the latter’s criminality, not scapegoat the people they pay to get here: we’re being misled by our government which wants us to ignore that they welcome the arrival of illegals.
April 24, 2025
To explain the attitude of the French, every illegal that crosses is one less problem for France.
All we have to do is to remove all incentives for coming and replace them with penalties. On arrival arrest and automatic detention. No legal aid. An offer of return to country of origen, or swift despatch to a POW camp in West Falkland. In effect killing off this illegal invasion. If it necessitates leaving the ECHR fully or in part, so be it.
Follow this with the convicted criminals who number around 10,000 in UK jails. Return to country of origen.
Lastly, commence a roundup of the estimated 2,000,000 illegals floating freely in the UK at present. Offer them return to country of origen or the West Falkland POW camp and a career in road building under military supervision.
All the above will cause appoplexy in Islington and our nice little earner legal parasite profession. So what, they have lived off the problem for too many years. The UK electorate will cheer anyone putting such a solution into effect. Once the deterant becomes know there will be no market for expensive illegal Channel crossings.
April 24, 2025
“…. arrange to arrest and question the boat organiser/ captain”
Because the organiser isn’t on board and the boat has no captain ?
Reply Of course every boat has someone in charge steering and driving. He presumably has also collected or checked that fares were paid as otherwise they would be running boats free for users.
April 24, 2025
Smashing the gangs will not work, any more than smashing any organised crime syndicate has ever worked. Medusa always has another head with another chancer prepared to take the lead for the riches involved.
The only way to stop the flow of illegals with their hands out is to reduce the draw. Turn them round mid-Channel. The French should welcome this as many illegal economic immigrants only pass through France to get to England (note they do not want to get to Scotland or Wales) so if they know it was futile they might not pass through France.
Turn them round or don’t let them land. It will be cheaper to put them on boats in the the Channel when they arrive for processing and if they have not reached our shores they will have fewer rights.
All European countries should pay an “safe” African country for a piece of desert where a mass immigrant camp can be set up monitored by the Red Cross. All illegal immigrants should be shipped here post processing. From here they can return to their own countries if they wish or continue to live in near squalor.
These people are not our responsibility and have made themselves stateless so have no rights.
Finally we should withdraw from the UN Refugee convention until it has been redrafted for modern times and travel. It is out of date.
April 24, 2025
There has been some social media comment about the funding of the channel crossings.
We should follow the money and deal with the source.
The Government effectively lays down the red carpet for illegal immigrants.
Hotels and benefits are a bad idea.
If the Government removes the incentive for people to enter the UK illegally then their numbers will be significantly reduced.
The majority of the “customers” of the gangs are young men which seems to present particular problems.
https://www.gbnews.com/news/migrant-crisis-gang-violence-northern-france-small-boats-summer-channel-crossings
The response of the UK Government is either calculated or it is pathetic.
https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/16/latest-statement-in-response-to-small-boat-crossings/
April 24, 2025
The dinghies and outboard motors are being imported into France. Why isn’t France putting restrictions on this? They aren’t small objects to move around.
There are many ways that both France, the EU, and the UK could stop this vile trade. If France agreed to receive all the boat people back, it would stop overnight.
They don’t try to stop the illegals, they actively encourage them.
The British people have to face the fact that past governments want these people in our country for whatever misguided reasons. They have also overseen mass legal immigration, over which they had control.
There’s little point in making suggestions on how to fix the problem. All these have been made many times. The only solution is to replace our current politicians with MPs who promise to protect our borders. However, after another 4 years of these numbers coming, I fear it will be too late to save our country.
April 24, 2025
6,000 migrants have invaded the country this year, at a life time cost of £400k , that is a cost to the tax payer of £2.4 billion, then there are all the relatives they bring in totalling 50 a day, 20,000 a year
April 24, 2025
Surely the manufacturers of the outboard motors can identify, by clandestine methods or otherwise, the end-users purchasing the motors with the proceeds of crime?
April 24, 2025
It might be revealing to discover what/where/who receives the boats and engines retrieved when these ‘migrants’ are picked up ? How can we be sure that its not a circular trade; who can tell ??
April 24, 2025
They are kept in storage in the UK for a period of time to allow the owners to come and collect them. I assume if they aren’t collected, they get auctioned off and end up back with the smugglers. You really couldn’t make this up.
April 24, 2025
Good Morning,
It’s no wonder politicians are held in such low esteem (I am being kind in my choice of words). Soundbites/buzzwords followed by complete inaction.
Personally, I am beginning to despise these people.
Quite sad to have come to that conclusion.
April 24, 2025
‘illegals’ says it all, that means they are breaking UK Laws and have become criminals. Does the UK need other Countries Criminals?
April 24, 2025
Stop blaming the French. It’s the UK that is enticing them in with free everything. Mark out some moorland and fence it off, erect Nissen huts and feed the migrants with nothing but good porridge. Provide them with an office where they can inform the camp supervisor where they can be returned. Otherwise there is nothing for them to do. When it becomes clear that arriving irregularly in the UK is a dead end, the flow will stop.
For those genuine asylum seekers, set up offices for migrants to register a claim. These can be picked up by migrant charities who can decide if they wish to sponsor the migrant for their asylum, so as not to burden the taxpayer. If the sponsorship arrives and the asylum claim is cleared by the UK authorities they can be issued with a pass to come over on regular ferry services.
Smashing the gangs – Did anyone believe that?
April 24, 2025
When a UK Citizen travels abroad on visits, holiday or for work. It is expected they respect their hosts rules, laws even customs of their host. When they transgress get into trouble the UK’s representative in that Country will help them secure legal representation – but they will be paying for it themselves one way or another, not their hosts.
When Criminals enter the UK, break UK Law, some how it is the UK taxpayer funding their legal representation and not their home country. It is not even Court appointed representation it is high power high-cost legal representation all free of charge.
Does anyone else see the inequity?
April 24, 2025
The big flaw with so-called ‘Human Rights’ laws is that it discriminates against the majority the ones most affected, the ones that are the victims of this criminal activity are never considered.
The other big flaw with ‘Human Rights’ Laws is that they are not created, can’t be amended or repealed by the only ones with legitimate authority to impose anything on the people within a Country – its democratically elected Legislators!
Human Rights laws are created by a vested interest legal profession in it for profit and only answerable to themselves – there is no legitimate democratic over-site as would be required in a free country!
Welcome to the TwoTierWorld
April 24, 2025
Dear Sir John, please drop the faux-naif pretence of asking why the government won’t stop the migrants. It is honestly wearing a bit thin by now. You and everybody else reading your blog know perfectly well why not. You might want to ask instead who’s paying for mass migration. It obviously isn’t dirt-poor people fleeing poverty in African countries. Could it be the people who speak out in favour of it?
April 25, 2025
+1
Here’s the UN’s explanation.
https://migrationnetwork.un.org/videos/migration-and-2030-agenda
April 24, 2025
Theere is no intention to stop this by this government or the previous one. They could stop it immediately if they had the will to do it. Providing what is in effect a ferry service, hotel accommodation, spending money, phones,access to NHS etc… shows they are not serious. Just why they want to see so many mainly young fighting age men enter the UK illegally from countries with little affinity to UK and its traditional values is of grave concern.
April 24, 2025
More potential Labour voters
April 24, 2025
Oh no. These are now reaching proportions where they don’t need to vote for Labour anymore. They will have their own party, they already have 3 or 4 MPs.
All they need is PR and they will be in control of the Government in short order.
April 24, 2025
According to the Telegraph in February ‘French law prohibits police from tackling a migrant boat once it has entered the water, leaving officers only able to launch a rescue operation. People-smuggling gangs have begun using “taxi boats”, which remain in the water and collect migrants from beaches in Northern France’ although there is talk that ‘ the French government is now planning to change the law to allow police to intercept migrant boats in shallow waters’.
But the current system is what the migrants have paid for and expect i.e. rescue at sea, accommodation, spending money and a guarantee more or less that they won’t be sent anywhere. What’s not to like from their point of view.
April 24, 2025
The bigger question is why our own government/home-office/police don’t enforce the Illegal Immigration Act 2023 ….and arrest each and every one of then upon landing ?
April 24, 2025
You might want to read assets.publishing.service.gov.uk 12/03/2025 ‘Statement of changes in Immigration Rules’ and legislation.gov.uk. ‘Illegal Immigration Act 2023, Latest available (revised)’.
You would have to ‘Expand all’ if you want to read it.
TMaLSS the main point is that only some provisions have been accepted by the HoL, the others (as far as I can tell) have not been made law or if they have made it have not been enforced yet.
In particular the ‘Appeals in relation to suspensive claims’, n.44 to 49 (including n.47 ‘duty to remove’) have not received Royal Assent.
April 24, 2025
Dear Mr. Redwood,
There was never any intention of smashing the gangs. It was merely a soundbite. Something, anything, to put before the electorate for the general election.
Under pressure from the left wing of the Labour Party to scrap the Tories ‘racist’ Rwanda Scheme, Starmer came up with his fig leaf of ‘smashing the gangs’ and no doubt congratulated himself on the subtlety of his plan. He knew it wouldn’t work but that was not the reason for its creation. It was simply to deceive the voters and get the Labour Party past the electoral winning post.
April 24, 2025
Let’s be very serious and take an in depth look at what is happening here.
The rhetoric about smashing the gangs is pure theatre to make it appear that HMG is looking at the problem, while ignoring it. It is nothing more than a distraction!
If HMG were serious about cutting illegal immigration and stopping the gangs then that would be done by now.
So it follows that if HMG is not interested in stopping the migrants then they must be in favour of it – Despite their weasel words.
The reasons behind all of this PROVE without doubt that HMG is:
– turning the UK into an islamic state;
– actively working against the best interests of the British people;
– determined to wipe out white British culture and our heritage.
The next question has a more obscured answer, but let’s put here anyway: W H Y ?
April 24, 2025
The latest bad news from Germany shows the direction the EU is taking to eliminate the political right, no doubt with the UK following after.
In France Marine Le Pen has effectively been neutered.
What will HMG do about the right of centre parties now challenging them – apart from cancelling elections?
April 24, 2025
@Bryan Harris. +1. This is I guess partly why Farage is sounding more moderate, the more popular Reform gets. The establishment here would find a way to ban the Party if it got too radical (think Thatcherite conservatism) and popular.
April 24, 2025
The EU has never even pretended to be democratic. Their objective is to destroy the ‘English system’ of democrcy and capitalism.
I think it was Hugh Gaitskell who said he was opposed to the Common Market which was a Bureaucratic Dictatorship.
April 24, 2025
I cannot understand how any UK woman can still be be voting for anyone or any party supporting or encouraging or even not hindering the continued mass illegal and legal immigration into the UK of young men with deeply misogynistic cultures. I read that the AfD in Germany is now polling as the most popular party in Germany and young women are increasingly promoting the AfD Party on Tik Tok because they no longer feel safe in their own country.
April 24, 2025
It is becoming quite clear that nature trumps nurture and this is why our Civil Service’s plan to become a multicultural society has failed. Living in the UK has not changed nature, or as someone else has put it, being borne in a stable does not make you a horse.
April 24, 2025
Just because it has failed does not mean they will abandon it!
April 24, 2025
Labour and most “Conservatives” do not want to stop immigration, and in fact want more of it.
Do not vote for these immigration parties.
Quite simple really.
April 24, 2025
The attitude of this and previous governments is a disgrace. Starmer has no intention of doing anything about immigration, legal or illegal. The problem is symbolic of the weak governments we have had since 1997.
If the PM was serious about stopping the boats, he could do it. But that would take real toughness and determination to face down all the frenzied opposition he would face.
But a man who can’t grasp the simple fact that biology determines whether you are male or female has no chance of acting in the interests of the UK and its people. His Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is equally weak and has no idea what to do about immigration, other than let it rip. Open the UK borders to anyone and everyone.
Have we ever had a weaker and more ineffective government?
April 24, 2025
Where are the OBEs, MBEs, knighthoods, medals for this, the longest and largest rescue operation in maritime history ?
Why doesn’t the mission have a heroic name “Operation Small Boats” and why aren’t the RNLI heroes household names being lauded on TV ?
I gave up my RNLI donations long ago when I realised that I and my fellow citizens are now far more at risk of harm from what the RNLI does than ever being rescued at sea by them. That includes us being put to the back of the NHS queue for vital treatment.
April 24, 2025
The French are not allowed to interfere with a boat in the water full of irregulars. The policy was introduced after campaign group Utopia 56 filed a complaint resulting in a court order in Nov 2022. As a result irregulars are dying inshore as they wade out to and then climb onto the boats. That’s where the deaths are.
Why haven’t the French challenged this court decision?
Now, the RNLI are called out by BF to “assist”, usually in British water, but then I do not understand why the irregulars are not taken to the French ports. Why do they have to come to Dover?
April 24, 2025
According to media reports the UK Law firms recruiting and preparing these criminals to invade this Country advise these people to discard all paperwork and passports before leaving France. Isn’t someone entering without papers just a ‘spy’?
Then we have to ask the question was is the UK taxpayer funding this advice by paying recruiters(Care4Calais) to be in France in the first place.
April 24, 2025
Smashing the gangs who organise the last stage of the migrants journeys will not yield results.
People arrive in the UK penniless yet have crossed continents to get here. They are being funded by
evil people with a pathological hatred of Europeans. A lawful extradition procedure would be the starting point but some countries refuse to cooperate so MI6 would be the next alternative; whatever means is necessary should be used when the future of the UK is a stake.
April 24, 2025
Am looking at Starmer on Sky making a speech about the future of energy security – it’s
European thing – we’re being sucked in further – and now Von der Lyon – she says ” it’s a pleasure to be back in London my dear Keir” –
So am afraid Brexit has gone but maybe that’s no harm as it was a failure from the start – Starmer has now decided on closer alignment with the EU – looks like – but it should also go some way to help smash the gangs
Reply The closer we align the worse it will get
April 24, 2025
Had this government actually consulted the real experts in this field, they would have learned “Smashing the gangs” was a fruitless objective. How would they smash them in other parts of the world, even in Europe?
The only way to stop this invasion is to withdraw the boat taxis for them to come here and stop placing them in hotels with full board and perks, but remove them to encampments in the middle of desolate land surrounded by barbed wire fences, like prisons, if they manage to arrive illegally.
At the same time, re-open Rwanda and send out all those who arrive with no i/d and no country of origin. We MUST stop the world seeing OUR country as the softest touch and the most naive in the world. We must no longer be seen as so attractive to the economic migrants from the rest of the world.
April 24, 2025
The second biggest question is why are illegal immigrants, refugees and student/work/visitor overstayers allowed to roam free, receive benefits and live in non-secure accommodation ie luxury hotels
April 24, 2025
GC :
To encourage them to come and stay of course. What other reason can there be?
April 24, 2025
I believe that you’re correct
April 24, 2025
The navy or a police detachment should do this work.
The Home Office and Border Force cannot be trusted to do it and they should both be disbanded and the all of the management sacked.
April 24, 2025
Reeves has the solution to ‘smashing the gangs’. Open borders with the EU. That will do it.
There is going to be Rivers of Blood.
April 24, 2025
15 criminals arrived in the UK yesterday; from the safe country of France…
April 24, 2025
If you believe that this is all done by “gangs”, I recommend listening to The Economists “The Intelligence” podcast from April 8th.
April 28, 2025
Hello John,
I can only think that the government wants these illegals here. There can be no other explanation. They’re not even trying to stop them. It would only take a few weeks of sending them straight back to France, turn them back before they reach U.K. waters for the message to get through, this would stop them.