By Suella Braverman

Starmer’s signature line - “Smash the Gangs” - was supposed to be the grown-up answer to an intractable problem.

He invoked his time as DPP, cited prosecutions of international drug networks and contrasted his seriousness with what he called the Conservatives’ “gimmicks”. It sounded forensic, measured, adult.

Then came the supposed centrepiece: Yvette Cooper’s “ground-breaking” treaty with France. Presented as practical diplomacy, cloaked in technocratic language, it promised a simple swap: anyone arriving in the UK on a small boat would be detained and sent back to France; in return, France would allow an equal number of safe, legal arrivals through a new route - except, of course, for those who had already risked the journey. One-in, one-out: tidy, humane, a reset of cross-Channel co-operation and, importantly, a public demonstration that Britain was back in control.

Only it has not worked. If you judge this policy by what voters care about - outcomes - it has so far been a shambles. The headline numbers are telling: 42 people removed to France; 23 brought to the UK under the new route. Meanwhile, nearly 60,000 people have entered the country illegally since July 2024 and arrivals this year have already exceeded last year’s total of 30,000. The........

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