Tony Smith CBE

'A real disaster for the Government!' Political Editor @ChristopherHope reports as the UK Border Chief, Martin Hewitt, resigns after migrant crossings surge in the English Channel.

My immediate thoughts are with Martin, his family, and his team at @ukhomeoffice - I wish him all the very best for the future. #bordersecurity #smallboats #ukborder

@football360au @johnMyaWilliams I thought he looked good pre season - surprised we’ve not seen more of him in the first team squad yet. Hopefully will change soon.

This kid has a HUGE future ahead of him 🔥🇦🇺⚽️ Aussie 19-year-old Jaylan Pearman netted a hat-trick overnight for QPR's U21s! He's now got 5 goals in his last 3 games at U21 level - and he's eyeing a Championship debut, having been named on the bench twice already for the first team. Looking like some player already.

Nick Timothy and Nigel Farage are right, and Sadiq Khan and Keir Starmer are wrong. Small groups of people, of whatever religion, praying in public places is fine. And as a Christian country we should allow a special privilege for churches to lead services in our national spaces, like the Palm Sunday celebration that happens in Trafalgar Square. What we don't want is mass ritual observances intended to claim the civic realm for another religion, or assert the domination of another culture over our own Christian traditions. What happens in our national spaces is not neutral. People use Trafalgar Square, for celebrations and demonstrations, to make a point about the kind of country they want us to be. The Palm Sunday pageant reminds us of who we are - not as individuals (many or most of us don't identify as Christians at all) but as a national community, with the roots of our institutions in the ground of the Bible and our most solemn communal moments, from coronations to funerals, mediated through the liturgies of the Church. A mass Adhan held there, or in any town square, is making a different point: that Britain is not a Christian country, and that - inshallah - one day it shall be Muslim. This is unacceptable to the British public and indeed incompatible with our constitution. As ever with these debates, the issue is partly one of kind and partly one of degree. There is an issue with Islam itself as a religion which in most interpretations does not admit of pluralism or freedom of conscience, and therefore is inherently aggrandising, including over territory. But with a bit of confidence and a bit of toleration we could handle that - if it were not for the issue of degree. It is the scale of Islam in Britain, and the ambition of its leaders for greater scale, that makes the problem. The numbers of people who assembled for the adhan in Trafalgar Square, clearly and openly claiming the territory for a faith with no connection (indeed, with strong doctrinal disagreement) with the model of Western liberal democracy that Britain has developed and exported to the world - that is the problem. The numbers, whether everyone there understood it this way or not (and I suspect many did), convey an explicit threat to the foundations of our country. Being relaxed about other people's religion is a good thing, a very British thing. I don't mind modern druids dancing around Stonehenge in my constituency (arguably, though the historicity is tenuous, they have a claim to the place). I don't mind small groups of Hindus or Buddhists or Muslims demonstrating the reality of Britain's religious toleration by worshiping in Trafalgar Square. But let's not kid ourselves about this adhan, or pretend that we're just seeing another harmless expression of Britain's religious diversity. We are seeing an abuse of liberalism, led by people who are not themselves liberal; or - let us imagine they are acting in good faith - who are themselves deceived about what they are doing. It should not happen again. And it would be good to hear the Church of England say so.

Channel migrants deported to France under the “one in, one out” deal have returned to Britain hidden in lorries @ShabanaMahmood @cphilp @AlexJJNorris @MikeTappTweets @PoliceInspForum @FortinusGlobal @migrationCtrl @APPGMigration @MigObs @MigrationWatch @DannyShawNews telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

A paranoid schizophrenic migrant who was jailed for harassment is allowed to remain in Britain because he would fail to take his medication if deported @ShabanaMahmood @AlexJJNorris @MikeTappTweets @FortinusGlobal @DannyShawNews @CPhilpOfficial @NJ_Timothy @PoliceInspForum @migrationCtrl @APPGMigration @MigObs @MigrationWatch telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

An Albanian criminal who fought deportation by claiming his 11-year-old son disliked foreign chicken nuggets has won the right to stay in Britain @ShabanaMahmood @AlexJJNorris @MikeTappTweets @FortinusGlobal @DannyShawNews @migrationCtrl @MigrationPolicy @MigObs @MigrationWatch @PoliceInspForum @CPhilpOfficial @RobertJenrick @NJ_Timothy @ZiaYusufUK @Nigel_Farage telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

🚨 BREAKING: The House of Representatives has passed a bill mandating automatic deportation for illegal aliens who commit welfare fraud, in a 231–186 vote.

‘One in, one out’ asylum seekers sent to France return to UK in lorries | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/m…

NEW: Govt insists the position "has not changed" and the settlement route WILL still double from five to 10 years. A spokesman says: "Between 2021 and 2024, this country experienced levels of migration it had historically seen over four decades. We must be honest about the scale and impact of hundreds of thousands of low-skilled migrants getting settlement." After some brief wobbling, Starmer siding with Mahmood over Rayner.

.@Keir_Starmer has opened the door to an about-turn on migration reforms criticised by @AngelaRayner @ShabanaMahmood @MikeTappTweets @AlexJJNorris @MigObs @migrationCtrl @MigrationWatch @PoliceInspForum @FortinusGlobal @DannyShawNews @CPhilpOfficial telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/…

Immigration climbdown incoming? After yesterday's attack by Angela Rayner on "un-British" reforms, Downing Street now repeatedly refusing to stand by Shabana Mahmood's policy to toughen the indefinite leave to remain criteria. No10 still saying they are committed to a "fair" immigration system but will now not get ahead of a government "consultation".

Angela Rayner warns that Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to make it harder for migrants to settle in the UK are ‘un-British” and a “breach of trust” She warns that Labour’s “very survival” is at stake, adding that it does not have a right to exist and has become “the establishment” in the eyes of voters “Enforcing a fair deal is not the same as ripping up a deal halfway through. “Many people came here to Britain on the understanding that if they've worked in the sectors where we needed them, obeyed the law and paid their taxes, that they could stay “If we suddenly change that, it pulls the rug from under those that have planned their lives and commitments and they're contributing to our economy and to our society. That would not just be bad policy, but a breach of trust. “The people already in the system who made a huge investment now fear for their future. “They do not have stability and they do not know what will happen. “We cannot talk about earning a settlement if we keep moving the goal posts, because moving the goal post undermines our sense of fair play. It's un-British."

48 migrants in a single boat were brought to Ramsgate in the early hours of yesterday.

🔴 Romanians are claiming a record number of student loans in a suspected widespread fraud Read our investigation ⤵️ telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

Here are all the major policy changes that caused the Boriswave. It's hard to map all the changes on a chart as you run out of room, but these are the major liberalisations under Boris Johnson's Government that caused net-migration to spike so heavily.

@elonmusk Yes - because of the Boris wave. This was his choice, and perfectly preventable.

This happened under a “conservative” government

@ReformDaily_ @KingBobIIV @LeaderofKCC I know how they must be feeling, but I’m not sure what a declaration of an illegal immigration emergency is I’m afraid. Or how it will change things?

🚨 Kent set to become the first UK county to declare an “illegal immigration emergency”🚨 Kent Council will announce the landmark declaration this week - putting the issue front & centre #ReformUK #Kent #Immigration [@LeaderofKCC] kentlive.news/news/kent-news…

Record number of immigrants apply for British citizenship under Labour ahead of crackdown and threat of Reform government trib.al/IKwlhfb

Those in genuine danger will always have a place in Britain - but those who try to game the system will be removed. We’re overhauling the human rights laws used to delay removals, making it easier to deport or remove illegal migrants from the UK.