SIR Keir Starmer must copy Donald Trump’s hardline crackdown on illegal migration and consider Rwanda-style deportations, a Labour MP has demanded.
Steve Yemm praised the US President for achieving “hard outcomes” and warned the PM he must look at striking “bilateral returns agreements” to stem the Channel crisis.
PAAsylum claims have hit a record 111,084 in the year to June, up 14.4 per cent[/caption]
EPAUS President Donald Trump[/caption]
The Mansfield MP’s call comes as small boat arrivals under Labour smashed through the 50,000 mark last week.
Sir Keir tore up the Rwanda scheme on entering No10, branding it a gimmick and a waste of £715million after just four migrants volunteered to go.
But earlier this month the US signed a deal to start sending illegal migrants to East African nation – just as the US President has driven crossings at America’s southern border to historic lows.
Writing in the Mansfield and Ashfield Chad, Mr Yemm said: “On my recent visit to Washington, I listened to policymakers and experts, to understand what worked elsewhere.
“What struck me was the clear contrast with America.
“Since President Trump reformed US border policies, illegal crossings there across the Mexican border have dropped to the lowest levels since the 1960s.
“These were hard outcomes, not slogans.”
Mr Yemm insisted Labour was now taking “real action”, pointing to 24,000 deportations since Sir Keir took office.
But he argued there was “more to do”, adding: “Labour must focus on innovative solutions like return hubs overseas and new bilateral agreements.
“Under those agreements, every small boat arrival would be sent not to a UK hotel but to a third country where they would stay even if their claim was upheld.
“‘If all 900 arrivals were deported on a Monday, and all 700 on the Tuesday, then how many might arrive on the Friday?
“Probably, we would see a US-style collapse in numbers.”
His comments pile pressure on Sir Keir after Labour veteran Graham Stringer also urged him to quit the European Convention on Human Rights, long blamed for blocking removals through endless legal appeals.
Figures published this week show asylum seekers in hotels have risen by nearly 2,500 since Labour took power – almost 50 more every week.
And asylum claims have hit a record 111,084 in the year to June, up 14.4 per cent.
It comes as ministers confirmed they will appeal a High Court ruling that stopped the Home Office using the Bell Hotel in Epping to house asylum seekers.
The Government argues it needs powers to move migrants into temporary hotels while it works on shutting them all down by the end of the Parliament.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said: “This Government will close all asylum hotels and we will clear up the mess that we inherited from the previous government.
“We’ve made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament, but we need to do that in a managed and ordered way.
“And that’s why we’ll appeal this decision.”
The injunction was granted after protests outside the hotel, following a case in which an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl – a charge he denies.
Officials say the ruling could make it harder to manage the asylum system nationally, while councils across the country are now looking at whether they too can block hotels being used.
Tory frontbencher Chris Philp blasted: “It is completely wrong that the Labour Government is taking legal action to keep open the Bell Hotel.
“The Government isn’t listening to the public or to the courts.
“Instead of trying to keep illegal immigrants in expensive hotels, the Conservatives would remove all illegal arrivals, put in place a real deterrent and ensure towns like Epping are never put in this position again.”
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