Kemi Badenoch has pledged to reduce the number of migrants crossing the English Channel to zero quickly if she becomes prime minister, accusing Labour of offering just slogans on the issue.
Speaking during a visit to the Isle of Wight, the Conservative leadership contender said her team was examining plans for new detention facilities and tougher deterrents.
Mrs Badenoch argued that the key to ending crossings was to prevent arrivals rather than simply managing them.
“If they think they’re going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won’t come here,” she said.
She likened the rapid construction of new detention centres to the Nightingale hospitals built during the Covid pandemic, saying the Government should “get the people who are experts to figure out the solution” rather than make excuses.
Badenoch’s comment comes after Skills minister acknowledged record
Her comments came after Lady Smith of Malvern, the skills minister, admitted that while the current record number of crossings was not Labour’s fault, the Government had so far failed to bring them down.
Since Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, 50,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats , a figure reached in just 403 days, compared with 603 days under Rishi Sunak and 1,066 days under Boris Johnson. More than 25,000 have arrived so far in 2025, the highest total for this point in the year since records began in 2018.
Lady Smith blamed the previous Conservative government’s gimmicks such as the Rwanda scheme, which she said resulted in the removal of just four volunteers. But she insisted Labour was now taking responsibility.
“Through changes to legislation, through international agreements, we are returning more people and closing asylum hotels. There are signs of progress but there is more that we need to do,” she said.
The first migrants have been detained under a new UK-France treaty ratified earlier this summer. The agreement allows for those arriving by small boat to be held on arrival and returned to France.
Around 50 people are expected to be sent back each week, with numbers forecast to increase by the end of the year.
Badenoch’s pledge contrasts with Rishi Sunak’s earlier vow to stop the boats, which he later admitted was too stark and ultimately undeliverable. She insists her approach could achieve the goal quickly, though not straight away.
