Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of being “deeply dishonest” over claims Labour is deporting more Channel migrants.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister said the number of failed asylum seekers being sent home has increased to 16,400 since his party won power.

He referenced the figure as he defended his plan to sanction people smugglers, prompting fury from critics.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Express the vast majority of those being deported “have nothing to do with small boat arrivals”.

Mr Philp said: “This government is only returning tiny numbers who entered the UK by small boat, amounting to about 5% of arrivals since they came to office.

“Letting 95% of people who cross by small boat stay in the UK is not a deterrent. The Government is being deeply dishonest by claiming returns that mainly have nothing to do with small boat arrivals will act as a deterrent.

“The Rwanda scheme would have been a real deterrent, but Labour cancelled it before it even started. We saw a removal deterrent similar to Rwanda stop crossings to Australia a decade ago.

“By contrast, small boat crossings are up 29% since Labour came into office. They’ve lost control of our borders.”

Sir Keir insisted sanctions can stop migrant smugglers from buying small boats. But on Thursday the Prime Minister faced growing criticism over his plans, with opponents questioning if it will lead to fewer criminals being arrested.

Suspected traffickers will be sanctioned by name, allowing investigators to freeze their assets in Britain and those of any individual or business supplying them with equipment or helping financially.

The Prime Minister also claimed sanctions will become a deterrent to the migrant smuggling gangs.

Sir Keir told the BBC: “The deterrent for the gangs is, because their incentive is to make a lot of money, you’re not going to make any money because we’re going to seize it and we’re going to put you on trial and you’re going to go to prison.

“And for the individuals that are being smuggled, the disincentive is you’re wasting your money, and if you get to the UK, you’re going to be returned to where you came from.

“And I’m really pleased that the figures for the last six months show record numbers of people being returned, people who should not be in the UK, 16,400 it’s the highest number now for, I think, six or seven years.

“This government has prioritised making sure that we are returning people who shouldn’t be here, not wasting our time on things like the Rwanda scheme, which wasn’t working.”

Some 36,816 people made the journey in 2024, a jump of 25% from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to provisional figures from the Home Office. The total is down 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: “Labour has no credibility on dealing with the evil trade in people smuggling.

“In Parliament they voted against tougher punishments and life sentences for people smugglers, abolished the Rwanda deterrent and campaigned in favour of the rights of dangerous criminals, over the safety of the British people.

“The last Conservative government legislated to tackle illegal migration and worked with international partners to bring criminals to face justice, disrupt their activities and secure arrests, prosecutions and convictions.”

And Sir Keir faced questions over why sanctions cannot be introduced sooner.

He said: “I think we can move quite quickly, because one of the things I’ve looked at is whether we can use the existing legislation and then have secondary legislation, so legislation will be dealt with much more quickly to bring about these powers.

“That’s the first thing. Second thing is, we’ve really ramped up the co-ordination and co-operation with other countries.

“This is transiting across Europe, so we need to make sure that the other countries, whether that’s Germany, Italy, France, and many others, are working with us on this, and we’ve been driving that hard.

“I think that one of the reasons that you’re seeing these agreements, the agreement we had with Germany, which is the direct result, really, of the focus that we’ve put in the last six months on making sure that we are able now to do the work that is necessary.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK must use “our sharpest diplomatic weapons to help restore control” to borders.

He added: “The UK … is to be the first country in the world to develop legislation for a new sanctions regime specifically targeting irregular migration and organised immigration crime.

“This will help to prevent, combat, deter and disrupt irregular migration and the smuggling of migrants into the UK.”