UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Minister Angela Eagle called for calm over rising anti-migrant protests, warning of real harm and stressing efforts to reduce asylum hotel use.
As reported by The Independent, a Home Office minister has criticised anti-migration protests, insisting that “anger leads nowhere” and urging a more constructive approach.
What did Angela Eagle say about anti-migrant protests?
Dame Angela Eagle said public concern over migration is valid, calling the right to protest peacefully an “absolute right.”
She stated,
“People don’t have a right to then have a pop at the police, which has been happening in some isolated cases outside hotels.”
Ms Angela warned,
“One mustn’t mix up people’s genuine concerns and worries peacefully expressed, with those who are trying to turn it into violence.”
The migrant minister said the government is “doing the detailed work” to reduce the asylum caseload, stating,
“We’ve taken 35,000 people off our streets who have no right to be in our country and sent them back to their countries of origin within a year.”
She stated,
“We are doing all we can to deal with the challenges that the police are facing on the streets to make sure that women and girls are safe, and in fact, that everybody is safe on our streets.”
During an interview, when questioned about growing unrest around migration, she responded, “Anger doesn’t get you anywhere.”
Ms Eagle added,
“What we have to do is recognise the values we have in this country, the rule of law we have in this country, the work we’re doing with the police to protect people. We will close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. We’ll do it faster if we can.”
She said,
“But we do want the phones of the people that we think are organising and facilitating, and this extra money will enable us to do much quicker analytics of the phones that we seize. But of course, we’ve got to get the Border Security Bill on the statute book to give us those extra powers.”
Referring to social media creators influencing illegal migration, the migration minister warned,
“We will stop anyone who comes to the UK where we’ve got evidence, and what happens is that the people smugglers are getting people to say how safe the journeys were and do adverts once they’re in the UK.”
She added,
“We will stop that, and we will also deal with other jurisdictions and ask them to help us deal with this as well. We could certainly do that in the EU with our colleagues in Germany, in France.”
What did Robert Jenrick say about public anger over migration?
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, expressed sympathy with public anger, admitting he “understands why people are so angry.”
He said,
“The basic problem with illegal migration is that we simply know nothing about these people. They’re undocumented, mostly men, who are coming across the Channel in flagrant abuse of our laws and being dumped in communities. I completely understand why people are so angry.”
Mr Robert stated,
“This issue is beyond party politics – it is causing immense harm to communities, people’s lives are being wrecked as a result of it, and we simply have to fix it.”
He added,
“I respect people who are peacefully protesting outside hotels this weekend. I understand why they feel so concerned. They’re seeing their communities damaged.”
Labour’s plan to stop small boat crossings
Labour has pledged to curb small boat migration as a core part of its agenda, signalling a tougher approach to reduce the number of people arriving in the UK via Channel crossings.
The government has announced an additional £100m to address migration, amid mounting pressure to curb small boat crossings.
The investment will launch the UK-France “one in, one out” scheme, funding hundreds of NCA officers and new surveillance tools to disrupt smuggling operations.
The latest move follows a string of steps to curb migration, including last month’s “one in, one out” deal with France, allowing the UK to return migrants in exchange for asylum seekers with British ties.
What did Yvette Cooper say about boosting UK border security?
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the funding will support enhanced surveillance and data tools to help UK agencies track smuggling networks.
She said, funding will
“turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment.”
Ms Cooper added,
“Alongside our new agreements with France, this will help us drive forward our plan for change, commitments to protect the UK’s border security and restore order to our immigration system.”
How many migrants have crossed the channel in 2025?
- 75,000+ asylum applications pending in the UK
- 25,000+ migrants crossed the English Channel so far this year
- 2018 – the year Channel crossing data reporting began
- 2025 – the earliest point in any year that 25,000 crossings have been recorded
- 300 new National Crime Agency officers funded by new investment
- £100 million additional funding announced to tackle illegal migration
Illegal migrants in the UK
- 44,125 irregular arrivals in 2025, mostly by small boats
- 38,023 small boat crossings in 2024/25, a 22% rise
- 94% of arrivals claimed asylum; only 4% returned
- 247 migrants have died since 2018; 82 in 2024 alone