Channel migrant crisis hits new milestone as Shabana Mahmood considers major changes

The number of migrants to have crossed the Channel surged past 39,000 on Remembrance Sunday as it emerged 14 sites could be used to house asylum seekers.

At least 300 people are feared to have crossed on Sunday, meaning at least 2,000 have been detected in small boats since Thursday.

Smugglers are exploiting better conditions after nearly two weeks of high winds.

The Home Office is eyeing up 14 sites around the country to house 10,000 asylum seekers, according to a leaked document.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to overhaul the asylum system and potentially copy policies adopted by the Danish Government.

It is understood officials have been looking at Denmark's tighter rules on family reunion and restricting most refugees to a temporary stay in the country.

Mahmood wants to reduce incentives that draw people to the UK, while making it easier to expel those with no right to be in the country.

In Denmark, refugees who have been personally targeted by a foreign regime are likely to be given protection.

But most people who have been successfully granted asylum when fleeing conflicts are now only allowed to remain in the country on a temporary basis.

When the Danish government decrees their home country is safe, they can be returned.

For those who have been in Denmark for a longer period, the length of time necessary to acquire settlement rights has been extended and conditions - such as being in full-time employment - have been added.

Denmark's tighter rules for family reunions have also attracted the interest of UK Home Office officials.

Ms Mahmood wants deterrents in place to stop people seeking to enter the country via unauthorised routes, while making it easier to remove those who are found to have no right to stay in the UK.

Sources said she was eager to meet her Danish counterpart Rasmus Stoklund, Denmark's immigration minister and a member of the Social Democrats, at the earliest possible convenience.

Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome, who is a member of the party's Socialist Campaign Group caucus, urged against emulating the Danish model, suggesting it was "far-right".

"I think these are policies of the far-right. I don't think anyone wants to see a Labour government flirting with them," she said.

Labour is also exploring 14 sites for asylum accommodation as they scramble to close migrant hotels.

Two sites have already been announced: Cameron Barracks in Inverness and the Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex.

And hundreds of locals in Crowborough, East Sussex, flooded onto the streets protesting the policy.

Speaking to GB News at the demonstration, local man Ben Grant said: "We just feel like we've been let down by the Government basically.

"We're a small town, 20,000 people. We're going to be surged with at least 600 undocumented men who are going to have nothing to do.

"We went to the council meeting, and it was very clear that the Government didn't have our interests at heart."

The Conservative MP for Sussex Weald, Nus Ghani, said: "We also have a duty of care towards the cadets based there, but the Home Office officials didn't even care about that nor had the council raised it as a problem. It's a shambles."

Angus MacDonald, the MP for Inverness, Skye & West Ross-shire, described the barracks as "not an appropriate location to house a large number of migrants".

"Cameron Barracks is surrounded by housing and only a ten-minute walk to the high street. It is secured only by a modest fence," the MP added.