Keir Starmer and several top government ministers didn’t show up to vote on their own plan to tackle the ongoing Channel migrant crisis. Records show that the Prime Minister, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy were all missing during a key vote on Labour’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. The bill aims to give stronger powers, like those used in terrorism cases, to go after the gangs bringing migrants across the Channel in small boats.
According to voting records, about 94 Labour MPs didn’t vote for the plan, including 13 members of the Cabinet. This number is even higher than those who skipped the previous vote on the same issue. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage pointed out the irony, saying Starmer criticised him in Parliament for not voting on the immigration bill, even though Starmer himself didn’t vote either.
Reform UK’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice said it’s now clear most of Labour’s Cabinet isn’t interested in seriously controlling the borders. He argued that the public wants tighter control, but Labour ministers couldn’t even be bothered to show up and vote. He called them weak on immigration and claimed the problem will only get worse under their leadership.
Chris Philp, the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary, also slammed Starmer, saying he’s too weak to support his own immigration plan. Philp criticised the bill for blocking the Rwanda deportation scheme and making it easier for illegal migrants to gain citizenship, calling it a betrayal of the UK’s border control.
Back in February, a similar vote on the bill saw more than 70 Labour MPs—including senior ministers like Reeves, Rayner, Ed Miliband, Lisa Nandy, and Pat McFadden—also fail to vote.
Labour says their plan will still make a difference. They want to smash the gangs behind the illegal crossings, and they’ve proposed giving the Border Force and National Crime Agency special powers to track them down. They’re introducing tougher penalties too. People who refuse rescue by the French during a crossing could face up to five years in jail. A new crime will target those who put others in danger during the journey, like those fighting with police on beaches or trying to rush boats into the sea.
The new rules are inspired by anti-terror laws. Just owning equipment like boats or life jackets—if it’s clear they’re for illegal crossings—could now be treated as a criminal offence. Labour is also looking at setting up return hubs in some Balkan countries to deport failed asylum seekers more quickly. Starmer admitted there’s no single solution to fix the crisis but said that by combining arrests, tougher laws, and international agreements, they can reduce the number of crossings.
However, Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama has already rejected the idea of a return hub in his country.
Labour insists their plan is different from the previous Conservative government’s Rwanda plan. A Labour spokesperson also fired back at Farage, accusing him of being inconsistent. They said if Farage truly believes the Labour bill will help stop Channel crossings, why did he tell his Reform Party MPs to vote against it?
They added that Labour has already removed 24,000 people who had no legal right to remain in the UK and promised to continue cracking down on smuggling gangs to protect the country’s borders.
