Politics

UK Migrant Crisis Explodes Under Labour and Only One Bold Move Can Stop It

Published on June 6, 2025

It’s only halfway through the year and 2025 has already reportedly smashed records for illegal small boat crossings into the UK, with more than 38,000 people arriving this way since Labour took office. That number isn’t just a statistic. It’s a flashing red light for a border system under serious pressure and a country asking tough questions about how we got here.

The crisis we’re facing today would’ve been hard to imagine just ten years ago. What we’re seeing now is unsustainable immigration that’s spiralling out of control. And the situation on the ground is pretty stark. The people making these crossings are mostly young men, drawn here because they know the UK is struggling to remove them once they land. Meanwhile, the human traffickers facilitating this are raking in millions by gaming the system.

What’s more frustrating is that government after government has promised to get a grip on this issue—and failed. So why exactly can’t Britain enforce its own laws, even when Parliament and the public are clearly on board?

The answer, some say, lies in a web of international treaties and conventions that are no longer doing what they were intended to do. Instead, they’re being used as tools to block the UK from acting. It’s not just about domestic policy anymore—it’s about foreign judges, obscure legal loopholes, and courts outside the UK overruling decisions made in Westminster. Critics call it “lawfare.”

And at the heart of it is the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a post-WWII treaty originally designed to prevent tyranny. But fast forward to today, and many argue it’s being used in ways its creators never imagined. For example, the ECHR has been cited to block deportations of serious criminals, including those involved in horrific crimes like grooming gangs. As one critic put it, “The ECHR was never meant for this.”

Efforts to reform the system haven’t gone well either. Just weeks ago, a group of nine European countries attempted to kickstart reform talks around the ECHR. Their efforts were flat-out dismissed.

Labour, for its part, is taking heavy fire from critics who say they’re not taking the crisis seriously. Their promise to take down the smuggling gangs has, according to opponents, fallen apart. They also scrapped the Rwanda deportation scheme before it even launched—a move that was followed by a sharp spike in illegal entries.

And when it came to the Deportation Bill—legislation that would have introduced a cap on legal migration and mandated the removal of all illegal migrants and foreign offenders—Labour voted it down.

Now, key Conservative voices, including Kemi Badenoch and party leadership, are making their position crystal clear: if you come to the UK illegally, you won’t be allowed to stay. No asylum claims. No human rights loopholes. Just a one-way ticket out—whether back to your home country or elsewhere.

They argue it’s time for Parliament to take back full control. That means no more overseas courts redefining laws written 70 years ago. “Parliament should be sovereign, and Parliament alone should decide who comes to this country and who is allowed to stay here.”

That’s why, in principle, the Conservatives are now backing the idea of leaving the ECHR altogether. They’re not rushing into it—there’s still legal groundwork to cover, and the final call will come at the party conference in October. But the direction of travel is clear.

As party leaders put it, “No longer are we prepared to allow the ECHR to stop us from controlling our borders.” Their plan is to remove every illegal migrant who arrives, full stop. For them, it’s about meeting public expectations—and proving that Britain still has the power to decide who gets to stay and who must go.

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