UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Keir Starmer slams Nigel Farage’s migrant hotel comments, stressing practical government actions to ease public service strain on taxpayers.
As reported by Sky News, Downing Street says Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejects Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s claims that Britain faces civil unrest over small boat migrants.
What did the Prime Minister’s spokesperson say about Keir Starmer’s response to Reform UK’s migrant plans?
Nigel Farage appeared at London Oxford Airport today to unveil his migration plan addressing small boat crossings.
In response, the prime minister’s spokesperson argued that the the government was offering “serious” solutions.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman stated,
“It makes him angry frankly, because it’s unfair on ordinary working people who pay the price from the cost of hotels to our public services struggling under the strain”
They said,
“That’s why we’re taking the action we are, to recognise the strength of feeling about this. The pressure that it puts on public services and that’s why we’re taking serious practical action to address this issue, not just returning back to the old gimmicks, the old solutions that failed to deal with this.”
The spokesman was questioned if he agreed with Farage’s claim that the UK risked civil disorder.
They replied,
“No, and I think what the Prime Minister is focused on is dealing with the concerns that people have,”
adding,
“People have understandably have felt like their living standards have stagnated over the last 15 years, and that’s why growing the economy and raising living standards is the government’s number one priority.”
The government spokesperson declined to discuss any Taliban agreements or comment on individual nations in advance.
Referring to Reform’s remarks on EHCR, the prime minister’s spokesman added,
“The ECHR underpins key international agreements on trade, security and migration – and the Good Friday agreement. Anyone who is proposing to renegotiate the Good Friday agreement is not serious.”
Reform UK’s migrant deportation plans
Nigel Farage’s plan to deport asylum seekers and scrap human rights protections has drawn sharp criticism from campaigners, legal experts, and political opponents.
At an Oxford press conference, Mr Farage unveiled Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice.” He said the party would detain and deport anyone arriving by small boat.
Reform leader insisted they would never be allowed to stay, claiming it could stop crossings in days and save billions.
He blamed the UK and French governments of supporting criminal activity. Mr Farage claimed their response to small boat crossings amounted to collusion.
He said,
“And even as we speak, despite the £800m we have given the French, even as we speak, there are French naval vessels escorting these boats across to a 12-mile line where they will be picked up by Border Force or our volunteers for the RNLI if it’s a busy day and Border Force simply can’t cope.”
The Reform leader estimates tens of billions wasted on policing and courts could be saved under his party’s migration proposal over the next decade.
What did George Peretz say about Reform UK’s deportation plans?
George Peretz KC, head of the Society of Labour Lawyers, stated,
“The Reform party’s policy is simply not rooted in reality. They want to institute a mass deportation programme with no real, or workable, idea of where people would be deported to.”
He added,
“Reform’s policy would require a returns policy to be negotiated with regimes such as the Taliban and Iran, and may, by their own admission, involve paying those regimes to do so. Which is impractical and extremely concerning, as well as unlawful (as our own courts ruled in the Rwanda case).”
Daisy Cooper’s views on Farage’s mass deportation plan
Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, stated, “Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny.”
She added,
“The idea that Reform is going to magic up places to detain hundreds of thousands of people and deport them to countries who haven’t agreed to take them is taking the public for fools. Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave.”
Key statistics about illegal boat crossings in the UK
By August 2025, 27,997 migrants crossed the Channel, 51% more than 2024. Twenty migrants died in 2025 so far; total deaths since 2018 at least 249.
Most arrivals are Afghans, Eritreans, Iranians, Syrians, and Sudanese. Ninety-five percent claim asylum; 68% granted between 2018-2024. Only 3% returned home, mostly Albanians.