A LABOUR minister has shrugged off blame for 50,000 small-boat migrants since the election – as many pocket taxpayer-funded freebies.
Baroness Jacqui Smith branded the record surge “wholly unacceptable” but insisted it was the Tories’ fault.
Migrants failed this morning to board an inflatable boat on the beach at Gravelines in order to cross the English ChannelLNP
Home Office stats show 474 people arrived on Monday alone, taking the total since Sir Keir Starmer’s landslide to 50,271Getty
She also dismissed deportations to Rwanda as “a gimmick” and claimed Labour is focused on “the hard grind” of smashing smuggling gangs.
The Skills Minister told Sky News yesterday: “This is a problem that, up to this point, we haven’t managed to tackle in terms of the numbers who are coming here.
“But it is a completely legitimate claim to say that that is because what is happening is the result of the last government that chose to focus on gimmicks with the Rwanda scheme that returned four volunteers.”
But Home Office stats show arrivals this year are 47 per cent higher than the same point in 2024 and 67 per cent higher than in 2023.
Some 474 people arrived on Monday alone, taking the total since Sir Keir Starmer’s landslide to 50,271.
It comes as a Sun investigation this week uncovered a host of generous perks being offered to small boat migrants, including discounts on martial arts classes and dinghy days out plus £1 Aston Villa match tickets for kids.
Others include half-price on e-bikes — when Army veterans and pensionersonly get a fifth off.
Among those dishing out deals is Labour-run Rotherham Council — which gives asylum seekers access to the Rothercard, aimed at helping low-earning families with bills.
Around 500 in asylum accommodation in the South Yorkshire town are believed to be eligible.
At Rother Valley Country Park’s three lakes they get a 30 per cent discount, slashing the cost of a 90-minute double-handed dinghy or sailing boat rental from £20.70 to £14.80.
It also emerged asylum seekers can get free bus and Metro travel in some cities, council-funded driving lessons worth hundreds of pounds, and university bursaries covering full tuition and up to £25,000 in living costs.
Other taxpayer-backed perks listed in official responses include discounted cinema and theatre tickets, massage vouchers, PlayStation consoles, and even hair extensions.
Meanwhile, EU nations once critical of the Tories’ Rwanda deportation scheme are edging towards their own offshoring or third-country returns.
The Labour government binned the deal on its first day in office.
Denmark is in talks with Kigali, Italy has struck a deal with Albania to process asylum seekers, and Germany is considering “safe third country” returns.
Tory chief Kemi Badenoch vowed she would drive small-boat numbers to zero “quickly” if she became PM. Asked if she could achieve that, Ms Badenoch said: “I think that we can … it wouldn’t happen straight away, but it would happen quickly.
“My team are now looking at what we can do in terms of detention centres, but stopping people from coming here in the first place – if they think they’re going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won’t come here.”
Her pledge follows Rishi Sunak admitting his “stop the boats” promise was “too stark” and ultimately undeliverable.
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