The number of migrants arriving on UK shores in small boats reached its second-highest total last year since records were started in 2018, government statistics confirmed on Thursday. It comes despite a "one in, one out" scheme designed to send irregular migrants back to France.
With Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer increasingly under pressure over the issue, his Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has proposed a drastic reduction in protections for refugees and the ending of automatic benefits for asylum seekers.
