Record small boat crossings an early crisis for Mahmood

Shabana Mahmood has hit out at the “utterly unacceptable” number of migrants arriving in the UK in small boats after the number of Channel crossings this year passed 30,000 in record time.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL DAVID MADDOX

The newly appointed home secretary has been hit immediately with the scale of the crisis she has inherited just 48 hours after taking over from Yvette Cooper.

The worst ever figures recorded in a single year to this point have underlined why Sir Keir Starmer felt he needed a clearout of ministers from the Home Office and a new team put in place, with Labour trailing Reform UK by 10 points in the polls.

The news that the 30,000 mark has been hit earlier in a single year under the Labour government's watch will only add fuel to Nigel Farage's push for power as he completed a exuberant party conference in Birmingham over the weekend.

In her first intervention as home secretary, Ms Mahmood vowed to take firm action on immigration after a difficult summer dominated by criticism of the small boats crisis, and will host the so-called Five Eyes security alliance for talks on tackling people smuggling in her first major engagement in her new role.