Keir Starmer on net migration, small boats and asylum, PMQs 15 July 2026

The statement

I am pleased that net migration is down 82%, small boat crossings are down 40%, the asylum backlog is down, we are closing asylum hotels and we deported 70,000 people with no right to be here.

Keir Starmer, 15 July 2026. Source

What the sources report

• Office for National Statistics, Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending December 2025 reports net migration to the UK, provisional (year ending December 2025): 171000people^src
• Office for National Statistics, Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending December 2025 reports net migration to the UK, provisional, highest point in the series (year ending March 2023): 944000people^src
• Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 reports people arriving by small boat (year ending June 2026): 33374people^src
• Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 reports people arriving by small boat (year ending June 2025): 43309people^src
• Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 reports people awaiting an initial decision on an asylum claim (end of June 2026): 40168people^src
• Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 reports enforced returns (year ending June 2026): 9669people^src

Notes

The ONS reports provisional net migration of 171,000 in the year ending December 2025, and a highest point of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023.

The Home Office reports 33,374 small boat arrivals in the year ending June 2026, against 43,309 in the year ending June 2025, a fall it puts at 23%.

The Home Office reports 40,168 people awaiting an initial asylum decision at the end of June 2026; its highest figure was 175,457 in June 2023.

The Home Office reports more than 40,000 returns in the year ending June 2026, of which 9,669 were enforced returns. The statement does not say which period or which kind of return the 70,000 covers.