The Home Office has announced an additional £100m in funding aimed at deterring Channel crossings, including support for a new returns agreement with France. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the money would fund up to 300 new National Crime Agency officers, along with new technology and equipment to target people-smuggling gangs.
The announcement comes as protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers have spread across the UK. Nine people were arrested in Islington, north London, after clashes between protesters and counter-protesters. In Canary Wharf, demonstrators gathered outside the Britannia International hotel, chanting 'send them home' and attempting to breach fencing. Police arrested one man for assaulting an emergency worker.
The government’s ‘one in, one out’ deal with France, agreed last month, will allow the UK to send people back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain. Critics have questioned the scheme’s deterrent effect, noting it may only involve up to 50 people per week.
Separately, a University of Oxford study found that £20bn has been spent on migrant-welcoming schemes over ten years, with £10bn overspent on asylum accommodation. Researchers called for more investment in integration and community cohesion to ease local pressures.
The government has also introduced plans to create a new offence for advertising irregular small boat crossings, and Cooper announced a fast-track scheme to clear the asylum backlog, aiming to make decisions within weeks.
