UK home secretary says nearly all women crossing Channel in small boats have been raped

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said that almost every woman who tries to cross the Channel from northern France in a small boat has been raped during the journey, in comments made on the podcast The Rest Is Politics. She said criminal gangs who also act as people traffickers decide who is allowed onto the boats, and that men attempting the crossing are also frequently abused and threatened.

Mahmood argued that Britain currently has no control over who arrives via this route, since the selection process is run entirely by trafficking networks rather than by any formal system, and that this should not be what determines who is granted sanctuary in the UK.

Comments on far-right activists

Asked about balaclava-wearing protesters blockading ports in opposition to her policies, Mahmood said such people were troublemakers who would kill her and force her out of her own country if they had the chance, adding that they do not regard her as a true Brit and resent that she is Muslim.

Palestine Action arrests

Mahmood also described herself as part of the pro-Palestinian cause and said she felt uncomfortable about the arrest of 82 people at the Labour party conference for displaying material supporting the banned group Palestine Action, among them people she has personally marched with. Despite this discomfort, she defended enforcing the proscription, saying principles must be applied consistently even when doing so is difficult.

Wider context

Separately, authorities were on standby for a migrant dinghy heading toward England's south coast, being tracked by French coastguard vessels after setting off near Normandy. A government spokesperson said the Border Security Command continues working to monitor the Channel and process arrivals. Imran Hussain of the Refugee Council welcomed Mahmood's acknowledgment of widespread sexual violence against asylum seekers but questioned why the government had closed the family reunion route last year, calling for safe routes to be expanded rather than limited to a few hundred people.