Keir Starmer signs UK up for eight more years of migrant crossings with £521m contract

Keir Starmer has been accused of signing Britain up to at least eight more years of the small boats crisis and “betraying” voters.

During the election, the Prime Minister pledged to “smash the people smuggling gangs” and make it a priority to end illegal migrant crossings of the English Channel.

Today, however, the Home Office published new contracts to run migrant processing centres in Kent with expiry dates set to 2032.

The contract, worth a whopping £521 million, requires a firm to manage the Manston and Kent migrant processing centres, including staffing, security and healthcare.

The winning company will be handed the contract for an initial term of six years, beginning in 2026, but there is also the option to extend the contract for up to four years - raising the possibility that Britain will still be processing illegal migrants in 12 years’ time.

The news led to accusations that the Government is now anticipating the small boats crisis to last for at least another eight years, and sparked fury among those demanding an urgent end to the crossings.

Writing in the Express today, former immigration minister and Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick accused Sir Keir of a “total betrayal of the British public”.

With over 13,000 illegal arrivals since Labour took power, Mr Jenrick blasted: “It was never going to hold up for long. But – I suspect – even Labour are surprised that after just 100 days their pledge to ‘smash the gangs’ lies in tatters.”

The hardliner, who wants Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to tackle the small boat crossings, said Keir Starmer has signed Britain up to eight more years of uncontrolled immigration, putting Britain’s social cohesion and national security at risk.

He was joined by former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel, who described Labour’s handling of the migrant crisis as “scandalous” and laid aim at a “weak” Prime Minister.

She told this paper: “Labour have no plans to tackle illegal migration and since coming to office they have opened our borders and given evil people trafficking gangs a licence to print money.”

“The detained sites, Greek style reception centres and third country processing through the Rwanda partnership as part of my New Plan for Immigration would have made a real difference and it is scandalous that these measures have been abandoned.

“The public knows that when it comes to tackling illegal migration and securing our borders, we have a weak Prime Minister who stands up for the rights of foreign national offenders rather than the safety and security of our borders and our country.”

Nigel Farage also took aim at the government, posting on social media: “471 illegals crossed the Channel yesterday and now the government is giving out 6 year contracts worth £521m for processing centres.”

“Starmer has no intention of stopping the boats.”

A Home Office spokesman insisted that Yvette Cooper remains “committed to smashing the criminal smuggling gangs”, and the contracts are part of a move to cut the overall cost of the Manston migrant site.

They argued: “We are procuring to reduce the number of providers that run the Manston site to cut costs and save the taxpayer money.”

"However, in time, as we take down the people smuggling gangs through the work of the Border Security Command, we expect see fewer people exploited into making these dangerous journeys.”

It is understood that the contract will include break clauses, so the government can theoretically terminate the contracts early if small boat crossings are reduced or stopped.

News of the contracts came as the Home Office revealed a further 471 people arrived in nine small boats on Saturday.

In addition to the 142 who arrived on just two packed dinghies on Friday, it brings the total this year to 27,225.

This figure represents a 5% increase on last year’s total, but 25% less than in 2022.

By October 12 2023, 25,931 people had made the crossing and in 2022, 36,491 had arrived.

The crossings on Saturday came a week after four people, including a two-year-old boy, died after two boats got into trouble off the coast of France on Saturday October 5.

The fatal incidents came on the same day as 973 migrants crossed in 17 small boats, the biggest daily number this year.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

The Government has already been accused of a major migrant u-turn, after plans emerged earlier this month to continue housing migrants in hotels.

Despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds”, asylum applicants will now continue being housed in hotels for up to three years due to the size of the backlog and continued arrivals.

This came as a blow to the Home Office, where officials had believed hotel use would end within a year of Labour coming to power.

The overall backlog stands at about 225,000, an increase of over 11,000 since Labour came to power.

During the election campaign, the Prime Minister said: “If we were to carry on with this government, we would have the best part of 100,000 asylum seekers in this country, none of whom are being processed.

“That means none of them can be returned, because until you’re processed, you can’t be returned, even if you’ve got no right to be here, being housed in hotels at the taxpayer’s expense.

"I don’t think that’s right and yes we want to turn that around.”

Labour tried passing the buck to the Conservatives, with a source arguing they inherited a worse backlog than expected.