Sir Keir Starmer proudly declared to Donald Trump that his Labour Government had so far “returned 35,000” small boat migrants – but new data suggests otherwise.
Analysis by Facts4EU and shared with GB News has exposed significant discrepancies in the Prime Minister’s statements to the US President.
The two leaders discussed illegal migration during a press conference in Scotland earlier this week, during which Trump said zero people had entered the US “other than through legal means” in June.
Meanwhile, Starmer trumpeted his own migrant-return deal with France.
Getty/ Facts4EU
|
Sir Keir Starmer proudly declared to Donald Trump that his Labour Government had so far ‘returned 35,000’ small boat migrants – but new data suggests otherwise
The Prime Minister also gloated that during the first year of his Labour Government, 35,000 small boat migrants were “returned”.
However, Facts4EU found Starmer’s attempt to defend his party’s record may not stand up.
The data shows that in the first nine months since Starmer came to power (July 2024 to March 2025), there were 6,742 enforced returns of illegal migrants, as opposed to voluntary departures.
The revelation comes as scrutiny intensifies over Labour’s immigration policies and their effectiveness in addressing illegal Channel crossings.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Facts4EU
|
Graph one shows that in the first nine months since Sir Keir Starmer came to power (Jul 2024-Mar 2025), there have been 6,742 enforced returns (rather than people going voluntarily) of illegal migrants
The latest Home Office figures showed that 25,436 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year.
This is up 51 per cent at this point last year (16,842) and 73 per cent higher than at this stage in 2023 (14,732).
It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 25,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
The examination of Home Office statistics paints an even more concerning picture when Albanian nationals are removed from the calculations.
Without these individuals, who benefit from a returns agreement established by the previous administration in 2021, the enforced removal figure drops to 4,835.
Despite the Labour leader’s pledge to “smash the gangs”, the analysis highlights that arrivals during the first seven months of 2025 exceeded the three-year average by nearly 10,000 individuals, according to Facts4EU.
This represents a staggering 60 per cent increase compared to the typical 15,583 crossings recorded during the same January to July period over the previous three years.
The broader immigration crisis extends far beyond recent months, with Facts4EU calculating that total Channel crossings have now surpassed 175,000 since 2018.
This seven-year period has seen no migrants returned to France, despite ongoing diplomatic discussions.
Facts4EU
|
Graph two shows Keir Starmer’s figures are up by over 60 per cent this year, compared to average of last three years
Kelvin MacKenzie has offered scathing observations about the Prime Minister’s encounter with Trump.
The ex-Sun editor said: “The humiliation of Starmer reminded me of TV’s Spitting Image when SDP leader David Owen’s puppet figure had Lib Dem boss David Steel sitting on his knee. It drove Steel mad.
“The defenestration of the Prime Minister was so compelling that it completely overshadowed an important speech by Nigel Farage at the same time.
“He made two points. The first was that stats show migrants are far more likely to sexually assault women than our own nasty people.
“This explains why there are so many women among protestors outside migrant hotels dotted all over the country. They worry about their own safety and that of their daughters. That is totally reasonable.
“His other point was that our anger at migrants being housed in hotels is on the verge of explosion, and the social contract between the governed and the government is on the brink of breakdown.”