SIR Keir Starmer was under fresh fire last night after it emerged 3,567 dinghy migrants have arrived since he signed a “one-in, one-out” deal with France — but NONE have been kicked out.
The news overshadowed the Government’s latest attempt to get a grip on the illegal migration crisis.
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Yesterday, ministers put a temporary halt on refugees bringing in partners and children.
Sir Keir also said he wanted to bring forward his 2029 deadline for closing asylum hotels because he “completely gets” the public’s anger.
But his positive slant was derailed by the news of the failure of the “one-in, one-out” deal with France’s Emmanuel Macron.
More than 100 people are understood to have been detained — with videos shared by No10 showing people being escorted by staff after arriving across the Channel.
Yet none has actually gone yet, officials confirmed.
The PM and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had gone on the offensive yesterday after a summer of dismal headlines.
Sir Keir slammed Reform leader Nigel Farage’s sweeping deportation plans.
Speaking to BBC Radio Five, the PM said: “It’s a really serious issue. We have to have control of our borders, and I completely get it.
“I’m determined that whether it’s people crossing in the first place, people in asylum hotels, or it’s returning people, we absolutely have to deal with this.”
Pressed on when illegal migrant hotels will finally shut, Sir Keir replied: “We’ve said we’ll get rid of them by the end of the Parliament. I would like to bring that forward, I think it is a good challenge.”
Nationwide protests over the summer pushed the PM to finally act as public anger over hotel use reached boiling point.
The Home Office currently houses around 32,000 asylum seekers in over 200 hotels across Britain.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said accommodation for illegal migrants would be dealt with “not just by shifting individuals from hotels to other sites, but by driving down the numbers in supported accommodation overall”.
Hotels would be “reconfigured” to increase room-sharing and the test for accommodation would be “tightened”.
She said the Home Office would try to “identify alternative cheaper and more appropriate accommodation”.
Last month, Mr Farage unveiled his radical mass deportation blueprint, dubbed “Operation Restoring Justice”, aiming to expel up to 600,000 undocumented migrants over five years.
Scrap ECHR
His plan includes withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and scrapping the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
He also wants to establish detention centres with compulsory deportations, even for women and children.
Sir Keir said: “The difference here is between an orderly sensible way of actually fixing a problem we inherited from the Tories or fanciful arrangements that are just not going to work.
“Nigel Farage and Reform are just the politics of grievance. They feed on grievance. They don’t want the problem solved because they’ve got no reason to exist if the problems are solved.”
The PM added that Mr Farage’s plan is “not fair to put forward to the public” because it is an idea that “just isn’t going to work”.
It came as Ms Cooper announced refugees will be banned from bringing their families to the UK as part of “radical” asylum reforms announced by the Home Secretary yesterday.
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The Home Secretary vowed that new immigration rules will temporarily suspend new applications from dependents of refugees already in Britain.
She also said that the controversial Article 8 of the ECHR — which guarantees a right to family life — should be interpreted differently.
Around 20,000 people come to the UK on refugee family reunion visas per year, according to Home Office figures.
Ms Cooper told the House of Commons yesterday: “Our reforms will also address the overly complex system for family migration, including changes to the way Article 8 of the ECHR is interpreted.
“We should be clear that international law is important.
“But we also need the interpretation of international law to keep up with the realities and challenges of today’s world.”
‘Living in a parallel universe’
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused Ms Cooper of “living in a parallel universe”.
Labour’s own Graham Stringer said the measures “don’t really deal with the fact that many migrants are not coming from war-torn countries, they’re coming from France, which isn’t persecuting them”.
And Reform MP Lee Anderson said: “Starmer continues to open the floodgates for hundreds of illegals each day.”
The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, became a flash point for discontent this summer after two of its guests were charged with sexual offences.
Epping Forest District Council won a bid at the High Court to block migrants from being housed at the hotel.
But the Court of Appeal last week overturned the injunction after an Home Office appeal.
Lee Anderson added: “Starmer makes hollow claims while refusing to close Epping. Hypocrite.”
Carpenter Jimmy Hillard, 52, of Loughton, Essex, has been handed an eight-week suspended prison sentence by Chelmsford JPs after admitting assaulting a police officer at a Bell Hotel demo on Friday.
PM’S ‘PRIDE’ IN FLAG
PM SIR Keir Starmer yesterday declared himself a “supporter of flags” — and revealed he still proudly displays a St George’s Cross in his flat.
He dismissed claims that showing off England’s ensign should be seen as racist, telling BBC Five Live: “I am the leader of the Labour Party who put the Union Jack on membership cards.
“I always sit in front of the Union Jack. I’ve been doing it for years, and it attracted a lot of comment when I started doing it.” He said he bought his England flag for last year’s Euros football.
The flag debate reignited after councils in the West Midlands and Tower Hamlets tried to remove the St George’s Cross from lamp posts and motorway bridges over claims they intimidated minorities.
The PM added: “They’re patriotic and a great symbol of our nation. I don’t think they should be devalued and belittled.”
Murder accused can stay
EXCLUSIVE by MIKE SULLIVAN
A CAKE shop owner can remain in Britain despite being wanted for murder in his home country.
Carlos Kassimo Dos Santos, 33, was jailed for 14 years in his absence in 2016 over a gang killing in Portugal.
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An extradition bid failed when the High Court upheld a decision by a district judge to allow Santos to remain here.
It was deemed Santos, who denies involvement in the 2010 murder, could not be guaranteed a retrial and it could not be proved he fled justice to come here.
He is now co-owner of Kings & Queens Dessert outlet, set up three years ago in Leeds.
It recently won The Best Dessert Shop in West Yorkshire award.
Santos was 18 when he was accused of being part of a group who killed a gang rival near Lisbon.
He then spent two years in the army before coming to Britain, where his dad lives.
He said he was unaware he was jailed and did not know he had to notify authorities of his address change.
He refused to comment when approached.
ELON RANT
ELON Musk hit out at asylum seekers being housed in £300,000 newbuild homes after The Sun exposed it.
The world’s richest man, 54, waded into the migrant housing debate on his X platform, writing alongside our story: “This must stop now.”
The Tesla chief and former aide to US President Donald Trump also accused the Government of giving away freebies, such as houses worth £1,200-a-month, to import more voters.
Another user had written: “They give them homes rent-free while British citizens have to pay. This is how Labour stay in power.”
Mr Musk, worth £306billion, shared the comments and added: “Exactly. And it will work, unless the people of Britain put a stop to it.”