Shabana Mahmood admits nearly every woman crossing Channel on small boats has 'probably been raped'

From the Newshound archive · first published 5 October 2026.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has admitted criminal gangs — not the government — decide who boards dinghies bound for Britain, and that almost every woman in northern France's migrant camps has "probably been raped along the journey." She also revealed Cabinet colleagues lobby her for more immigration "once or twice a week," sparking an extraordinary red-on-red row over Labour's addiction to cheap foreign labour.

Mahmood said the UK border is effectively run by people traffickers: 'We're not in control of this border.'

She admitted Labour colleagues relentlessly "pull the immigration lever," linking the habit to 981,000 young people not in work or training.

The Home Office has separately been exposed issuing leaflets warning migrants that sex with under-16s is illegal and that female genital mutilation is a crime.