Prime Minister Keir Starmer has instructed his reshuffled Cabinet to "go up a gear" and is examining the use of military and other state sites to house people who cross the English Channel, Defence Secretary John Healey said Saturday, as the Labour government refocused on immigration after a turbulent week of ministerial changes.
The reshuffle, prompted by the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Friday, moved Yvette Cooper from the Home Office to the Foreign Office and installed Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary. Healey said ministers were working jointly on plans that could include temporary accommodation at military and non-military sites for some arrivals, but stressed no decisions had been taken.
"We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military use sites for temporary accommodation for people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here," Healey told broadcasters. "Those are decisions we haven't taken yet, but it's work we're doing at the moment. And we're doing it jointly with the Home Office."
Healey sought to frame the moves as part of a broader push to restore public confidence in border control. "I'm looking really hard at it. I'm looking at it with the Home Office. I recognise that the loss of confidence of the public over recent years in Britain's ability to control its borders needs to be satisfied. We have to deal with this problem with the small boats," he said.
The first full day for Mahmood in the Home Office coincided with a peak in Channel crossings: officials estimated about 1,000 people arrived in the UK by small boat over the course of the day, and French authorities said 24 people were rescued attempting the crossing. The issue has been politically charged, with asylum hotels across England becoming focal points for protests in recent months and several sites expected to close.
Starmer moved quickly to reconfigure his front bench, shifting a number of junior ministers out of the Home Office and reshuffling portfolios across departments. As part of the changes, former borders minister Angela Eagle and ex-policing minister Diana Johnson were reassigned to other roles. Sarah Jones, who had held a policing brief in opposition, returned as policing minister, joined by Mike Tapp and Alex Norris.
The prime minister framed the relaunch as a move to the delivery phase of government. "The new ministers will drive forward our growth agenda with a relentless focus," Starmer said on Saturday. "Phase two of this Government is about delivery and this is a Government that will renew Britain and deliver the change people voted for."
Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Darren Jones denied the reshuffle signalled a crisis in government. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said Starmer now had the "strongest team" around the Cabinet table and rejected the idea the changes would delay the government's agenda. "It's not instability insofar as the outcomes that we're delivering are the same," he said.
The speculation over tougher immigration measures has intensified after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage used his party conference to pledge rapid action on Channel crossings if his party gained power. Farage has said Reform would leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and mount large-scale deportations; Conservative figures, including leadership contender Kemi Badenoch, are also reported to be considering similar pledges.
Asked whether the Labour government would consider leaving the ECHR, Healey said Starmer and Mahmood were not planning to remove Britain from the convention. "We will not be looking to remove Britain from the ECHR," Healey said, warning such a move would align the UK with states including Russia and Belarus.
Reports from within Labour suggested Mahmood might take a more interventionist approach to human-rights law at home. A party insider told The Sunday Times that she could favour an overhaul of how the ECHR is applied in domestic law, saying she would "start with the unthinkable and work backwards." Healey, however, reiterated that exiting the convention was not on the government's agenda.
The government is also reported to be pursuing agreements on returns of migrants. Ministers have already secured a returns deal with France and were reported to be close to a similar agreement with Germany.
The reshuffle followed Rayner's resignation as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and Labour deputy leader after she admitted publicly that she had not paid sufficient tax on a recent flat purchase. Her departure prompted the rapid ministerial changes and an effort by the prime minister to refresh his team.
Not all Labour members welcomed the reshuffle. Kim Johnson, the party's MP for Liverpool Riverside, described the moves as "moving deck chairs on Titanic" and criticised the choices as creating a perceived "London elite," saying the changes did not reflect the party's broader base.
On the ground, ministers face an immediate operational test. Dozens of asylum hotels that had hosted arrivals became sites of protest, and the Home Office faces pressure to both reduce crossings and respond to parliamentary and public demands over returns, accommodation and asylum processing. The government has emphasised a twin strategy of bilateral agreements on returns and domestic measures to deter small-boat crossings, while maintaining that it will operate within international legal obligations.
Starmer's instruction that ministers "go up a gear" came as he sought to shore up Labour's position ahead of political challenges from the right on immigration and from within his own party on delivery of domestic policy. The coming weeks are likely to test whether the new ministerial lineup can reduce Channel crossings and manage the political fallout from high-profile departures and policy shifts.