Government’s deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants ‘will deter small boat arrivals’ and ‘secure our borders’, says Starmer
Commenting on the government’s deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants, the prime minister said on X:
I am determined to smash the business model used by people smugglers, and I’m taking joint action with our allies to make it happen.
Building on our deal with France and renewed international cooperation, our strengthened partnership with Iraq will deter small boat arrivals and secure our borders.
Key events
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has told Yvette Cooper that flats are “sorely needed by young people”, as he called for assurances asylum seekers will not be moved from Epping’s Bell Hotel into apartments.
In his letter to the home secretary, the Conservative MP wrote:
Up and down the country people are furious about the number of illegal migrants being housed in hotels – which rose in the nine months following the election under Labour.
People are also concerned that you are now moving people from hotels into apartments and other accommodation which is sorely needed by young people here who are struggling under this Labour government.
Philp also claimed that “illegal immigrants housed in hotels have been charged with hundreds of crimes”.
Scotland’s justice secretary has said she wants a consultation on the parole process to help make the system “fair, transparent and trusted”. Angela Constance spoke as the Scottish government launched a consultation on possible changes to how the current system works, reports the PA news agency.
The consultation, which will last for 12 weeks, is specifically focused on improving the transparency of the system and communicating better with victims and their families. It comes as ministers are also considering a plea from the families of Suzanne Pilley and Arlene Fraser that in cases where killers have refused to reveal the location of their victims’ remains, this must be taken into account when parole is being considered.
Constance reiterated her “firm commitment to this change” when she met the women’s families earlier this month. The justice secretary said that the new consultation is aimed at delivering a system that “puts people first while ensuring decisions are based on public safety”.
As part of the consultation, people are being asked for their views on whether parole boards should publish minutes in full from meetings where they make decisions about prisoners’ parole, and if information published should be anonymised.
The consultation considers if victims and survivors who have registered to be informed about a prisoner’s releases should have an automatic right to attend and observe oral hearings by the Parole Board for their case – and if other people, such as the media or the public, should be able to attend. In addition, people are being asked to have a say on whether victims should have the right to make oral representations to the Parole Board ahead of cases being considered,
Speaking as the consultation got under way, Constance said:
The parole system must command the confidence of everyone it affects and work well for victims, their families, justice partners, and those seeking rehabilitation.
We know it could be improved so we want to make further reforms based on the views of those it affects.
The justice secretary continued:
This consultation is an opportunity to gather all perspectives to deliver a parole process that is fair, transparent, and trusted. We want a system that puts people first while ensuring decisions are focused on public safety.
I encourage everyone with experience of the parole process to share their views. These insights are essential to shaping a system that reflects our shared values of justice, safety, and dignity.
The shadow home secretary has called for an emergency Cabinet meeting “to establish plans for the deportation of all illegal immigrants upon arrival”.
In a letter to home secretary Yvette Cooper, Chris Philp wrote:
This migration crisis has happened because you made the catastrophic decision the cancel the Rwanda deterrent just before it was due to start, with no replacement plan.
The Rwanda scheme would have seen every illegal immigrant deported upon arrival and made it impossible to claim asylum if you entered the UK illegally.
The Conservative politician added:
Given this crisis unfolding on your watch and the concern about where the Epping migrants will go, will you:
Hold an emergency cabinet meeting to establish plans for the deportation of all illegal immigrants upon arrival and to resolve the migrant crisis you have created – just as the government recently held an emergency cabinet meeting on recognising Palestine.
Commit that none of the illegal immigrants currently in the Bell Hotel will be moved into hotels, HMOs (houses in multiple occupation), apartments, or social housing which are much needed for British people.
The previous government established alternative accommodation on current or former military sites and an accommodation barge, which are all alternative options while deportation plans are put in place.
Rajeev Syal
Yvette Cooper, thanks to Tuesday’s high court ruling, is facing potentially explosive decisions over where to house asylum seekers if courts rule that they must leave hotels.
The Home Office, usually under Conservative ministers, has been struggling for five years to find an alternative to hotels so they can house a growing number of asylum seekers reaching these shores.
Labour has said that it expects to empty the 200-odd hotels housing asylum seekers by 2029. Ministers may be forced to rip up that plan and move at a rapid pace because of the ruling’s implications.
If councils take to the high court to complain about the use of a hotel for housing asylum seekers – and many will be under immense political pressure from the public to do so – it could force officials to find alternative housing for thousands of people.
Legal sources believe that there will be similar grounds to launch applications for interim injunctions from a number of councils. This case has centred on an alleged breach of planning laws by owners of the Bell hotel, who it was claimed did not get permission to switch use from a hotel to hostel-style accommodation.
Other hotel owners are thought to be in similar positions to Somani Hotels Limited, which originally housed families in the Bell, but faced a legal challenge after the asylum seekers were switched to single men.
Ominously for the government, the Reform UK deputy leader, Richard Tice, said his party would look at pursuing similar cases regarding hotels within the 10 council areas it controls, which include both North and West Northamptonshire councils, Doncaster, and Kent and Staffordshire county councils.
And the high court rulings can require a rapid response. Epping’s application for an interim was launched on 12 August. By 4pm on 12 September, all asylum seekers will have to be removed from the Bell hotel.
There may yet be a lifeline for the government. They could convince the court of appeal to overturn the decision. The fact that the Home Office was not allowed to intervene in a case that was directly related to the home secretary’s duties to house asylum seekers could well be seized upon by government lawyers.
Harriet Sherwood
The government is looking at a “range of appropriate accommodation” in which to house asylum seekers in England, the Home Office minister Dan Jarvis told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday.
He refused to specify what kind of accommodation was under consideration, although he acknowledged that “nobody really thinks that hotels are a suitable location” after this week’s high court ruling. But the options are limited, writes Harriet Sherwood in this explainer:
Government’s deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants ‘will deter small boat arrivals’ and ‘secure our borders’, says Starmer
Commenting on the government’s deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants, the prime minister said on X:
I am determined to smash the business model used by people smugglers, and I’m taking joint action with our allies to make it happen.
Building on our deal with France and renewed international cooperation, our strengthened partnership with Iraq will deter small boat arrivals and secure our borders.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said talks about ending the war in Ukraine mark a “pivotal moment”.
He told Sky News on Wednesday:
We are closer to peace than we’ve been at any point previously. And the UK government – the prime minister has been clear about this – will want to play our full part in terms of ensuring that we secure that peace.
Asked whether he is uncomfortable about “kowtowing” to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Jarvis said he would describe it as “diplomacy” and “the best strategy to try and get a peace settlement”.
The minister added:
I think in situations such as this, you’ve got to be pragmatic. The loss of life in Ukraine is horrific. This is a conflict that has gone on for far too long. It needs to be brought to an end.
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is to be absorbed by Whitehall as the government seeks to cut the cost of bureaucracy, reports the PA news agency.
The agency will merge with Peter Kyle’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in April 2026, in a move the government said would cut “duplication” and ensure “clear ministerial oversight”.
It follows a commitment from the prime minister to reduce costs and cut the number of quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations), starting with the abolition of NHS England announced in March.
Space minister Chris Bryant said:
Bringing things in house means we can bring much greater integration and focus to everything we are doing while maintaining the scientific expertise and the immense ambition of the sector.
The merger will see the agency become a unit within DSIT, staffed by experts from both organisations and retaining the UKSA name.
Founded in 2010, UKSA is responsible for supporting the growth of the UK’s space sector. Space, which already generates an annual income of £18.6bn and employs 55,000 people across the country, was one of 11 “frontier” manufacturing industries prioritised in the government’s industrial strategy published in June, reports the PA news agency.
Bryant added:
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see the importance of space to the British economy. This is a sector that pulls investment into the UK, and supports tens of thousands of skilled jobs right across the country, while nearly a fifth of our GDP is dependent on satellites.
The announcement of the UKSA-DSIT merger comes as the government publishes more than 60 recommendations from the space industry on improving the way the sector is regulated. These include proposals to encourage investment in potentially lucrative areas such as space junk removal and in-orbit refuelling and repair services, known as rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO).
The average UK house price increased by 3.7% to £269,000 in the 12 months to June, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a slight slowdown in price growth after a 3.9% rise was reported in the 12 months to May.
Average house prices increased to £291,000 (3.3%) in England, £210,000 (2.6%) in Wales, and £192,000 (5.9%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to June. Meanwhile, average UK monthly private rents increased by 5.9%, to £1,343, in the 12 months to July, the statistics body said.
Security minister Dan Jarvis has said the government is “not paying” Iraq for its new deal to return illegal migrants (see 10.40am BST), but had offered “specific financial support” to help the country tackle people smuggling.
Speaking to LBC, Jarvis said:
We have a good and constructive relationship with the Iraqis and there are a number of areas, both in terms of security but also serious organised crime, where we’re seeking to cooperate – defence is another one.
The minister added:
We’re not paying them. When the home secretary was there at the back end of last year, there was some specific financial support that we provided to enable certain activity around targeting the smuggling networks.
On the government’s plans after the high court ruling that asylum seekers be removed from the Bell hotel in Essex, Jarvis said:
We are in the process of identifying contingency options for what’s going to happen to those people who are currently accommodated in that hotel in Epping.
According to the PA news agency, when Jarvis was pressed on the details of these contingency options, he replied:
With respect, the legal judgment was only handed down yesterday.
The leader of Staffordshire county council said it will be exploring its options after Tuesday’s high court ruling to remove asylum seekers from a hotel in Essex.
Reform UK councillor Ian Cooper said in a statement to the PA news agency:
We welcome this ruling and will be in contact with our district and borough council partners to explore what options this now gives us in Staffordshire.
The control and protection of our country’s borders is a national issue, but the impact of central government policy is felt in communities across Staffordshire.
I have already written to the home secretary on this issue, stating that the ongoing use of hotels for the purpose of asylum is unacceptable and poses a serious risk to local communities as well as the residents themselves.
Seperately, the leader of West Northamptonshire council Mark Arnull said in a statement that due to the council dealing with “an unreasonable and unsustainable strain” from asylum accommodation, it was “looking at the options now available”.
We have always been clear with the government and the public that the current use of three hotels in West Northamptonshire have never been suitable locations for asylum accommodation and place an unreasonable and unsustainable strain on our already-stretched local services.
We also know these hotels cause concerns for our communities and I have raised these issues with the Home Office and written to the deputy prime minister about the wider use of asylum accommodation within our community.
We are currently considering the implications of this judgment to understand any similarities and differences and are actively looking at the options now available to us. As such I am unable to comment further at this stage but will issue a further update when able to do so.
In the meantime, we will continue to work with partners in the police and in our communities to make sure that residents’ concerns are heard and addressed.
UK to offer troops to defend Ukraine’s skies and ports in Pentagon talks
Kiran Stacey
The head of the British armed forces will tell his American counterparts the UK is prepared to send troops to defend Ukraine’s skies and seas but not to the frontline with Russia, as planning intensifies for a postwar settlement.
Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, will on Wednesday attend meetings at the Pentagon designed to finalise what 30 different countries are willing to commit to Ukraine’s national security.
Radakin is expected to confirm the UK will provide soldiers to help with logistical support and training, but not deploy them close to Russia. Officials had been talking about deploying as many as 30,000 troops to protect Ukrainian sites, but that has been scaled back amid opposition from some European countries.
One British official said:
Wednesday is a really important moment. Nothing happens in Washington without the president giving the green light, so Trump giving his support to security guarantees on Monday kickstarted a lot of activity.
Another said Radakin would echo the pledges made last week by John Healey, the defence secretary, who said Britain was willing to deploy troops to Ukraine “to secure the safe skies, safe seas and to build the strength of the Ukrainian forces”.
They said ministers envisaged this as meaning logistical and training support rather than sending battalions of frontline troops who could end up in combat.
More England councils plan to challenge asylum hotels after Essex ruling
Aletha Adu
Councils across England are weighing up their own legal challenges after a high court ruling blocked people seeking asylum from being housed in an Essex hotel.
The Conservative-run Broxbourne council in Hertfordshire said it was taking legal advice “as a matter of urgency” on whether it could follow the example of neighbouring Epping Forest district council, which successfully applied for an injunction to stop asylum seekers being accommodated at the Bell hotel in the town.
Corina Gander, the leader of Broxbourne council, said a hotel in the town of Cheshunt put “an enormous strain on local services”.
“We are going to be looking at the ruling of Epping yesterday and we will be expecting to go down the same path as Epping,” the Conservative councillor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Gander said her council had previously tried to get legal advice to block the hotel, but had not been successful. “What Epping have done is they have really set a precedent for local councils,” she added.
Ministers are braced for such legal challenges, as the government is working on contingency plans to house asylum seekers.
The ruling has been seized on by Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, who said the party’s 12 councils would also consider such challenges. Writing in the Telegraph, Farage said those authorities would do “everything in their power” to replicate Epping’s approach, describing the case as a template for resistance to the Home Office’s use of hotels.
Not all Conservative councils are rushing to the courts, however. The leader of South Norfolk council, Daniel Elmer, said his authority would instead use planning rules to ensure hotels in this area housed families rather than single men. “If we can punish people who put up sheds in their gardens without permission, then we can take action against hotels being converted into hostels,” he said.
Lib Dems call for rail fares to be frozen saying an increase would be a ‘slap in the face to ordinary people’
The Liberal Democrats have called for rail fares to be frozen to “avoid another hit to the cost of living and encourage more people on to trains”.
The party said, according to its own research, that if regulated rail fares rise in 2026-27 to follow inflation then that would mean some commuters could face rises of above £2,000 since 2020. A season ticket from Winchester to London would then cost £6,984, up by £256 from last year, and £226 more from Cambridge, said the Lib Dems.
Commenting on the figures, Paul Kohler, MP for Wimbledon and Lib Dem transport spokesperson said:
This is nothing short of ludicrous. Commuters are simply being taken for a ride. We simply cannot allow the current rate of inflation to set rail fares while services get worse.
To increase rail fares at all in the midst of a cost of living crisis would be nothing other than a slap in the face to ordinary people.
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to scrap the 2026-27 rail fare rise and get more people on to the trains. Raising fares is a false economy that will only drive down passengers and revenue in the long run.
Security minister Dan Jarvis has hailed the government’s new migrant returns deal with Iraq as a “positive move” and “part of the jigsaw” to tackle small boat Channel crossings.
Jarvis, who is on the media rounds this morning, told Sky News:
The government of Iraq are a key strategic ally in our work to combat irregular migration.
Everybody has seen the very concerning scenes of significant levels of crossings across the English Channel and we’re working very hard to put a stop to that.
The best way to do that is to work upstream of the problem and there are a number of strategic partners that we’re working very closely with: clearly, the French and colleagues in Europe are an important part of the solution, but we also need to look further afield.
We’ve signed this agreement in Iraq, which will give us the ability to more rapidly repatriate people who’ve come here from Iraq. So it’s part of a wider process of leveraging our diplomatic relations to ensure that it is not only much more difficult for people to get here illegally in the first place, but if they are able to do that, we’ve got the ability to return them much more quickly and much more effectively than was the case previously.
He added:
We’re very grateful to the cooperation that’s been shown by the government of Iraq, but this is just a part of the jigsaw.
Government agrees new returns deal with Iraq in latest move to deter small boat crossings
The government has agreed a new deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants as part of wider moves to limit small boat crossings, reports the PA news agency.
The deal, signed by Home Office minister Dan Jarvis, will set up a formal process to return Iraqis who have arrived in the UK with no right to stay in the country. It comes after an £800,000 deal last year with Baghdad to help the country crack down on smuggling networks and organised crime.
Earlier this year Keir Starmer and Iraq’s prime minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani agreed to strengthen cooperation on migration.
Jarvis signed the agreement during a visit to the UK by Iraq’s deputy foreign minister Faud Hussein. The Home Office said the accord would allow the “swift” return of illegal migrants. Home Office statistics said since previous deals, the number of Iraqis arriving in the UK by small boat has fallen to 1,900 in the year to March 2025, down from 2,600 in the previous year.
Jarvis said:
By working together on security, development and migration challenges, we are building stronger relationships that benefit both our countries whilst tackling shared challenges like organised crime and irregular migration.
The returns deal is the latest part of the Home Office’s policies to stop small boats crossing the channel. Similar agreements have already been made with Albania and Vietnam since Labour came into power. Another deal with France recently came into force, where small boat migrants who have arrived over the English Channel from the French coast can be returned to the country.
Jarvis said:
This visit reinforces the strength of the UK-Iraq partnership and demonstrates our government’s commitment to serious diplomacy that delivers real results.
As someone who served in Iraq, I understand first-hand the importance of building enduring relationships in the region, and the new agreement we have signed is a testament to the trust and cooperation we’ve built with our Iraqi counterparts.
However, the announcement was criticised by Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp, reports the PA news agency. He said:
Over 50,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel in Labour’s short time in power, the worst illegal immigration crisis in our history. Labour has surrendered our borders, and the consequences are being felt in our communities, from rising crime to shocking cases of rape and sexual assault by recent arrivals.
Now they boast about a measly returns deal with Iraq, but barely any small boat arrivals are Iraqi, and most would qualify for asylum anyway. It’s a sham designed to look tough while crossings keep soaring.
Labour has scrapped Conservative deterrents and created the conditions for chaos, leaving the British people to foot the bill. Only the Conservatives will stop the crossings and restore control of Britain’s borders.
