Keir Starmer has already betrayed us on small boats | Politics | News

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 truth was that Labour’s so-called plan had very little to do with solving illegal migration and everything to do with fixing Keir Starmer’s political woes. He thought that by paying lip service to the need to stop illegal migration, he’d swindle his way into Downing Street.

But it was a promise he never intended to keep.

Arresting the gangs smuggling people across the channel is part of how we tackle illegal migration. But, while necessary, it was never going to be sufficient by itself.

As the National Crime Agency has told this government, you also need a deterrent. A guarantee that crossing the border illegally will not lead to a life in the UK.

The tougher version of the Rwanda policy I sought to introduce at the beginning of the year would have done that. But, instead of strengthening Rwanda, Starmer scrapped it.

Now the results are in. In just 100 days, 13,000 people have come here illegally.

He’s signed us up to eight more years of uncontrolled levels of illegal migrants flooding across the Channel. Costing the taxpayer billions, further fraying social cohesion, and risking our national security.

While we closed over 100 asylum hotels, Labour now privately concede they’ll be needed for many more years.

A total betrayal of the British public.

We must do things differently. Illegal migration must end. The public have had enough of empty promises.

That’s why I have a clear plan to solve it.

I will leave the ECHR, end the merry-go-round of legal claims, and ensure that anyone who comes to the UK illegally is detained and deported within hours or days, not weeks or months – either back home or to a safe third country like Rwanda.

If Keir Starmer intended to keep his promises, he’d adopt this plan. He doesn’t, so we Conservatives must beat him instead.