Overview

• Government data show 28,076 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, a 46% rise on 2024 after 212 arrivals on Sunday pushed the total to a new high.
• A YouGov survey reports 71% of voters think the prime minister is handling migrant hotels badly, with 37% naming immigration and asylum as the country’s top issue.
• The Home Office plans to replace tribunal judges with trained adjudicators to accelerate asylum appeals, targeting a backlog of about 51,000 cases that take over a year on average.
• A High Court injunction ordered the removal of up to 138 men from the Bell Hotel in Epping as councils explore further challenges and weekend protests at hotel sites led to arrests.
• Officials say at least five more hotels will shut by year-end with a larger wave of closures next year, as record asylum applications and ongoing accommodation pressures persist.