Key events
Test for Labour as figures likely to show over 50,000 migrants have crossed Channel since last July
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
The number of people who have crossed the Channel on small boats since Labour took office last summer will probably pass 50,000 later today when official figures are released.
Official figures from Monday suggested 49,797 had crossed in small boats from northern France since 5 July 2024.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, is under considerable pressure to reduce the number of people arriving on small boats across the Channel, with his promise to “smash the gangs” clearly not working,
The government has set out its plan to close asylum hotels by the end of the parliament and Starmer announced a “one in, one out” returns deal with France last month.
But there is a rising political urgency around the issue as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party continues to lead polls after attacks on Labour for failing to curb irregular migration.
Farage has more recently been linking sexual offences to immigration as part of his“Britain is lawless” campaign, full of disputed claims.
Kemi Badenoch suggested yesterday that asylum seekers should be housed in camps which could be policed, instead of in hotels, as they currently are. We should get more detail about this proposal later today. Here is what else is on the agenda:
09.30am: New welfare statistics, including the number of universal credit claimants, will be published by the Department for Work and Pensions.
10.45am:The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is likely to face questions from journalists about the latest ONS employment data when she speaks to regional media.
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, will be speaking to regional media and LBC today.
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