Reform UK leader criticises Labour Government for using ‘same trick’ as Tories
Nigel Farage has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer for blaming the weather for small boat arrivals. New Home Office data show that the number of days with good weather conditions for migrants to cross the Channel this year has more than doubled compared to previous years.
The Government published the statistics just days after a record number of daily arrivals for this year on Saturday. But Reform leader Mr Farage accused Labour of hypocrisy after the party previously criticised the Tories for blaming the weather.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage blasted Sir Keir Starmer on GB News (Image: GB News)
Speaking on his GB News show, the Clacton MP said: “Last Saturday was the biggest day this year for the number of people, young men, mostly, that crossed the English Channel.
“The numbers are 42% up on the year from this time last year, and 95% up on the same point in 2023.
“In fact, the numbers that came on Saturday, just shy of 1,200, were the second-biggest day ever in all of this. And normally, you would expect the biggest days to be August, September into October, especially when not just calm weather, but when sea temperatures are higher.
“But I find it pretty extraordinary, this whole saga, that No 10 says it’s because of a number of red days, the number of days when people are able to cross, and that’s why the numbers are up. The Conservatives tried the same trick.”
Mr Farage highlighted how he clashed with James Cleverly during Christmas 2023 when the former home secretary hailed no Channel crossings over the festive period. Mr Farage insisted it was because of the windy weather.
He also highlighted a tweet in April last year by Labour MP Stephen Kinnock slamming the Conservatives for blaming the weather.
Mr Farage said: “And here we are with Labour doing it again. Both sides try to pretend that it’s all because of the weather, but the truth is, are Labour credible when they say things like this?”
His comments come after Downing Street said the Government wanted to break the link between favourable weather conditions and the number of small boat crossings.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman acknowledged there were “no quick fixes” to the problem.
He said: “The point is that we need to break the link between the level of crossings being reliant on the weather and that is why we need to work upstream with our partners to smash the people-smuggling gangs.”
