Newslinks for Friday 22nd August 2025

Tories attack Starmer for opening the floodgates on asylum claims, with record 111,000 in Labour’s first year in power

“A record 111,000 asylum claims were lodged in the first year since Labour gained power, smashing the previous all-time high by 8,000, new data shows. The Home Office said 111,084 people claimed asylum in the year to June, up 14 per cent on the previous 12 months. It surpassed the peak of 103,000 in 2002 during the ‘asylum crisis’ under Tony Blair’s government. In another major development, the number of foreign nationals extending their visas to stay in Britain topped one million for the first time. The data showed a 28 per cent leap in the number of visa extensions to 1,041,786, up nearly 230,000 in a year. One in four of the total asylum claims, 43,600, were made by small boat migrants. The rest came here clandestinely, such as stowing away in a lorry, which accounted for 11 per cent of claims, or arrived here legally such as on a visa and then claimed to be refugees. The top five nationalities for asylum claimants overall was Pakistani, Afghan, Iranian, Eritrean and Bangladeshi. But Eritreans have come to dominate the Channel route – making up the largest nationality in the first six months of this year, at 3,543, followed by Afghans with 2,318. The data covers the first year after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer scrapped the previous government’s Rwanda asylum deal, which was designed to deter Channel crossings. There have been more than 51,000 small boat arrivals since the election, including a 40 per cent jump in numbers so far this year, compared with the same period in 2024. Labour published data in June which suggested the Rwanda scheme had a clear deterrent effect on arrivals. The figures showed the number of crossings was suppressed when the Conservatives were gearing up to launch Rwanda removals – even on what the Home Office terms ‘red days’ when there are calm sea conditions. Today’s new data also showed a dip in the number of small boat migrants being deported by Labour… Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour had ‘lost control of Britain’s borders’. ‘Labour has presided over the worst year on record for Channel crossings, with nearly 28,000 people already arriving illegally in 2025, up 47 per cent on last year and the highest figure ever recorded,’ he said.” – Daily Mail

• Labour’s ‘day of shame’ as shocking migrant figures show ‘complete collapse’ of UK border – Daily Express
• Wave of protests planned at migrant hotels this weekend – The Times
• At least 30 councils considering options over asylum hotels after Epping ruling – ITV News
• Labour panic as ‘dire’ asylum figures add to migrant hotel woes – The i
• Britain’s asylum chaos revealed: How porous borders are being exploited – Daily Express

Comment:

• The four big asylum problems Keir Starmer faces from record-breaking new figures – Richard Vaughan, The i
• The Prime Minister’s about to get a taste of his own medicine amid asylum backlash – Jonathan Saxby, Daily Express
• Asylum crisis is taking Labour’s eyes off growth – Emma Duncan, The Times
• Farewell payments and Rwanda 2.0 – how the UK could bring down migration – Eliot Wilson, The i

> Today: Corina Gander: How Broxbourne plans to take on its asylum hotel

> Yesterday: From Epping to everywhere? Conservative councillors urged to consider legal battles

Jenrick flies flags and bemoans councils

“Robert Jenrick has put up Union flags in his constituency in defiance of “Britain-hating” councils. On Wednesday evening, the shadow justice secretary attached three British flags to lamp-posts in Newark – the Nottinghamshire town he represents in the Commons. Mr Jenrick’s gesture came after two councils vowed to remove any English or British flags that appeared as part of an online “patriotism campaign” called Operation Raise the Colours. Local authorities in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets vowed to remove the flags “as soon as possible”, with the former claiming that they could pose a fatal risk to drivers and pedestrians. On Thursday, Mr Jenrick posted a photograph of himself giving the thumbs up to the camera while standing on a ladder behind a lamp-post that had been adorned with a Union flag. He said: “Raise the Colours! While Britain-hating councils take down our flags, we raise them up. We must be one country, under the Union flag.” Writing alongside a Facebook post picturing three flags attached to lamp-posts with the caption “fair play lads”, Mr Jenrick added: “An evening well spent in Newark yesterday.” The Tory frontbencher went on to post a photograph of himself with three other men, saying: “Thanks to these guys.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Robert Jenrick flies the flag and bemoans ‘Britain-hating councils’ – The Times
• Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick flies Union Jacks from lamp-posts and blasts ‘pathetic’ councils threatening to remove national flags – Daily Mail
• Defiant English neighbourhood covers zebra crossings in St George’s cross – Daily Express

Comment:

• I’m proud to see patriotic Britons fighting the denigration of our culture – Robert Jenrick, Daily Telegraph
• ‘Trust the people,’ declared Winston Churchill – no chance of that in modern Britain – Leo McKinstry, Daily Express
• Reform UK launches Operation Stop Jenrick – Rob Lownie, Unherd

> Yesterday: Douglas Carswell: Restore the State (Part 1): Britain’s state of dysfunction

Tory councillor’s wife Lucy Connolly freed after being jailed for tweet over Southport attack

“Riot-tweet mum Lucy Connolly was freed from jail to rejoin her husband and 12-year-old daughter — after more than a year as a victim of “two-tier justice”. Husband Ray, a Tory on Northampton Town Council said she had coped “relatively well” with jail, adding: “The only person who hasn’t is our daughter. It will be good to have her home. We are thankful for the support. Our focus will be to try to sort out our lives and for my wife to reconnect with our daughter.” Lucy, 42, caged for stirring up racial hatred after the Southport killings, left HMP Peterborough in a taxi at 10am. Her punishment sparked a major debate, with PM Sir Keir Starmer accused of “two-tier justice”… In all she spent over a year behind bars — two months held on remand before she was sentenced at Birmingham crown court. She was freed at the automatic release point, after serving 40 per cent of her term in prison. She will serve the remainder on licence under supervision. Reform deputy leader Richard Tice MP, who visited her in jail, told The Sun: “I’m delighted that Lucy is finally out of prison. She should never have been inside in the first place…Speaking after Lucy’s release, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said “Her punishment was harsher than sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting.”” – The Sun

• Lucy Connolly is pictured for the first time since release from prison: Tory councillor’s wife is seen enjoying freedom and walking her dogs after 10 months behind bars for ‘racist’ Tweet – Daily Mail
• Lucy Connolly to speak out after jail term for hate tweet – LBC News
• Social media hate prosecutions hit record high after Connolly conviction – Daily Telegraph
• The hardened criminals who did less jail time than Lucy Connolly for ‘racist’ tweet: Paedophiles, rapists and terrorists deemed less of a danger to society than childminder – Daily Mail

Comment:

• Lucy Connolly has suffered at hands of the British state – let’s hope Brits wake up to this attack on their free speech – Toby Young, The Sun
• So was Lucy Connolly really such a danger that she had to spend a year behind bars? – Jan Moir, Daily Mail
• What the case of Lucy Connolly tells us about British justice – Telegraph View

News in brief:

• What Lewis Goodall gets wrong about inheritance tax – Andrew Lilico, The Spectator
• The YouTubers shaping anti-migrant politics – Felix Pope, Unherd
• Public health and the eternal paternalist – Christopher Snowdon, The Critic
• How to fix the ONS – Andrew Sentance, CapX

The post Newslinks for Friday 22nd August 2025 appeared first on Conservative Home.