Tony Blair clashes with Keir Starmer over small-boat migration chaos

Sir Tony Blair has reportedly argued that boat migrants should not be allowed to claim asylum - the position adopted by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

The former PM is understood to believe that spiralling levels of immigration will not be tackled unless potential arrivals realise there is not a back-door route to British citizenship through refugee law.

Sir Tony's view is quoted by Taxpayers' Alliance founder Matthew Elliott in his new book Prosperity Through Growth, the Mail on Sunday reported.

This is despite Sir Tony's government presiding over rocketing levels of immigration.

Mrs Badenoch included a ban on asylum claims for illegal entrants in a raft of new immigration policies set out at the Tory conference this month. They include a US-style 'Removals Force' to hunt down and deport 750,000 migrants.

Meanwhile Sir Keir remains committed to current asylum laws.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "Even Tony Blair can see Labour's open borders asylum policy is a red carpet across the Channel. When you tell the world that anyone who arrives illegally can still claim asylum, the crossings will never stop.

'This is why the Conservative border plan will end asylum claims for all illegal entrants. It's common sense: Stop the pull factor that lets migrants make bogus claims and stay in the UK for the rest of their lives.

"Unlike Labour, our plan is tough and deliverable: Leave the European Convention on Human Rights, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival and end the merry-go-round of appeals. That is how we stop this madness. But Starmer doesn't have the backbone to do this."

The UK's border security chief tasked with tackling Channel crossings said last week that the number of arrivals by small boat to the UK is "frustrating" but that work to stop the smuggling route was "always going to take time".

Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt, who has been in post for a year, rejected the idea it was a "fool's errand" to go after smuggling gangs and told MPs he was convinced the plan in place "will deliver".

Speaking to the Commons' Home Affairs Committee on Thursday, Mr Hewitt said: "I more than anybody, find the fact that the numbers are where they are frustrating and really challenging, and this issue could not be more high profile.

"But I am convinced that the plan, the sort of cross spectrum plan that we have in place, is a plan that will deliver, but we need to we need to keep pushing and delivering that plan."

His comments come as more than 36,000 people have made the dangerous journey so far this year, around a third higher than the same point in 2024.