A brawl among migrants erupted on a small boat crossing the Channel this morning as it emerged Shabana Mahmood’s migration crackdown is set to watered down once again.
On Thursday and Friday, almost 1,000 people broke into Britain via small boat within a 48-hour window.
Data released by the Home Office show 934 people crossed the Channel on 12 vessels across the two-day period.
Footage shared with GB News has shown even more migrants attempting to make the perilous journey this morning.
In the video, a balaclava-clad individual can be seen fighting off migrants in the water as they desperately attempted to climb on board the vessel, with several people appearing to have been punched and slapped in the scuffle.
A Border Force Ranger vessel collected a total of 38 migrants in the early hours of this monring from French safety boat Minck.
The disturbing scenes come on the same day it emerged Ms Mahmood’s changes to Britain’s migration system are set to be watered down amid a brewing rebellion from the backbenches.
Under the Home Secretary’s proposals, the wait for migrants to obtain permanent residency would double from five to 10 years.
Her plans would also see the wait for some lower-paid migrants to gain indefinite leave to remain (ILR) increased to 15 years, up from five.
The announced crackdown sparked fury among Labour backbenchers, with now-Housing Secretary Angela Rayner branding them “un-British”.
And now, Government whips have been attempting to avoid a civil war within the party by exploring the views of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), The Sun reports.
The number of backbench MPs thought to be opposed to Ms Mahmood’s proposals is thought to far exceed the confirmed 100 parliamentarians who had signed a letter in protest.
“The PM is tougher on migration than many people think but on ILR there’s a clear direction of travel,” a Government source told the newspaper.
“It will now be more surprising if we stick with the proposals.”
More to follow…