Migrants wave to a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has insisted migrants arriving in Britain by small boat should be deported instead of being housed in hotels.
He said crossings would “stop overnight if the government took the action.
Mr Lowe pointed out that 183 illegal migrants crossed the Channel on Friday, 104 on Thursday and 215 on Wednesday.
He said: “I don’t know how else to put this. It is pure insanity.
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“Stop putting these men in hotel accommodation and start deporting every single one. Do that, the boats stop overnight.”
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At least 36,816 people crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2024.
And 78 migrants died trying to cross last year.
In November, Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle told MPs that 220 hotels were being used to house migrants, 14 of which had opened and seven had closed since the July election.
Labour had pledged to end the use of hotels in its manifesto.
Dame Angela had said Labour was making the asylum system “fit for purpose” after inheriting “an unholy mess” – where fewer than 1,000 cases a month were being processed.
“We are now processing up to 10,000 asylum cases a month.”
Reform’s Rupert Lowe Rages Over Small Boats as He Claims There Is a ‘Simple’ Way to Stop Crossings
The political row over small boat crossings in the English Channel has returned to the centre of Britain’s immigration debate, with Rupert Lowe among the politicians demanding a much tougher approach to border enforcement. His argument reflects a growing frustration among voters who believe successive governments have failed to deliver a lasting solution to irregular migration.
For Lowe and other critics of the government, the central question is straightforward: why do dangerous crossings continue when Britain and France already cooperate on border security? Their answer is that the system must remove the incentive for people to pay smugglers to bring them across the Channel.
Yet what sounds simple in a political slogan can become far more complicated when it has to work at sea, comply with international law and secure cooperation from another country.
The demand for a decisive solution
Small boat crossings have become one of the most politically sensitive issues in the United Kingdom. The journeys are often made in overcrowded inflatable boats, exposing passengers to the risk of drowning and placing pressure on emergency and border services.
The issue also carries significant political consequences. Many voters see the crossings as a test of whether the government can control the country’s borders. Others emphasise the humanitarian dangers, the legal right to seek asylum and the importance of distinguishing refugees from people who do not qualify for protection.
For politicians campaigning on a promise of tougher immigration controls, these competing concerns have created an opportunity to present a clear alternative to existing policy.
Lowe’s approach is associated with the belief that enforcement must change the calculations made by people considering the journey. If prospective arrivals believe that crossing the Channel will lead to settlement in Britain, the argument goes, smugglers will continue to find customers. If that expectation changes, the market for dangerous crossings could shrink.
The challenge is turning that theory into a policy that can be implemented consistently and lawfully.