Labour's border chaos is fuelling public fury and fear as dangerous foreign offenders vanish into thin air
IT is little more than a year since Labour came to power promising to smash the people-smuggling gangs.
Instead they have smashed the economy — with inflation up, unemployment up and business confidence at a record low.
The only significant growth is in the number of illegal migrants coming here in small boats.
Already over 25,000 have arrived this year — a 50 per cent rise on the 2024 figure by this stage, which was shocking enough.
That number is dwarfed by the UK's astonishing 700,000 population increase in just a year — almost entirely due to legal immigration — which itself is utterly unsustainable.
The arrival of thousands of mostly undocumented illegal migrants is symptomatic of just how badly Britain has lost control of its borders.
It's not just the millions of pounds it costs taxpayers every day to shower the migrants with handouts and put them up in hotels, nor the fact that so many of them find black market jobs.
Most of the arrivals are young men of fighting age — yet the authorities seem to have little idea who they are, even if they end up in court.
National emergency
We discovered earlier this week that the number of foreign sex offenders and violent criminals in prison in England and Wales is at a record high, and that 40 per cent of people charged with sex attacks in the capital were foreign nationals.
Now we learn foreign criminals are simply walking free mid-trial and disappearing under false names because of a dangerous 'disconnect' between prosecutors and immigration enforcement.
It is little wonder that people — not least mothers — worry about migrant hotels on their doorsteps, or that protests are growing, or that polls show immigration is the number one issue concerning voters.
So what is the Government doing about this national emergency?
Reform UK's rising star Laila Cunningham
It seems to have no plan, beyond a sketchy one-in-one-out deal with France and setting up a spy unit to track anyone on social media discussing anti-migrant sentiment or two-tier justice.
While Britain continues to house soaring numbers of uninvited guests in four-star hotels, America has seen a massive drop in illegal border crossings because tough detention centres and deportations await those who do.
President Donald Trump has shown the problem CAN be tackled, if only the political will exists.
The Government, which ditched the Rwanda scheme — the only viable deterrent — as its first act in power, has shown precious little will so far.
It's about time Sir Keir Starmer realised the urgency of the situation... and started taking tough action of his own.
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