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Illegal immigration will be "hardwired" into the asylum system until the UK leaves the European Convention on Human Rights, Chris Philp has declared.

The Shadow Home Secretary warned Labour has "confined themselves to cosmetic tweaks" on the ECHR.

Mr Philp said "anyone who crosses the Channel knows they can invoke human rights law and remain indefinitely".

It comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood insisted she will ramp up deportations.

The Home Office claimed nearly 60,000 illegal migrants and convicted criminals have been removed or deported since the 2024 election. The department could not say how many of these were small boat migrants.

Mr Philp said: "Shabana and Starmer can't decide whether record small boat crossings is Shabana's or Starmer's fault. They can argue over the excuses, but the failure belongs to them both.

"As long as the ECHR sits at the centre of our asylum system, illegal immigration is effectively hardwired in. Labour have confined themselves to cosmetic tweaks, hence only five per cent of arrivals have been removed.

"There is no deterrent and anyone who crosses the Channel knows they can invoke human rights law and remain indefinitely. Labour lacks the backbone to confront that truth."

Mr Philp added: "Labour are not fooling anyone. They are barely removing any small boat immigrants - a mere 5 per cent, hence why the boats keep coming. Labour are padding out the figures by bundling in voluntary returns, which make up the vast majority of returns.

"The reality is that Keir Starmer and Lord Hermer have always sided with open borders activists and the human rights lawyers who use lawfare to block removals.

"Starmer is too distracted by the scandal surrounding his appointment of a known friend of a paedophile to focus on serious action."

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would "scale up" the number of deportations even further.

But the Government is still facing mounting pressure over immigration. More than 65,000 people have arrived in the UK by crossing the English Channel alone since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

Earlier this week, Ms Mahmood said there is no guarantee that the number of small boat crossings will fall by this time next year.

The Home Office said it will bring in legislation to stop illegal immigrants "gaming the system" by using the European Convention on Human Rights to appeal against their removal.

The UK is among a number of countries grappling with migration problems which are pushing for changes in the way the treaty is interpreted, notably in its Article 3 protection against inhuman or degrading treatment and the Article 8 right to a family life.

Both articles have been used to prevent people with no right to be in the UK being sent back to their home countries.

Illegal migrants will also be restricted to a single route of appeal, the Home Office outlined.

Ms Mahmood said: "I vowed to scale up removals of illegal migrants - and we have.

"However, we must go further to remove those that have no right to be in our country.

"I will do whatever it takes to restore order and control."

A bombshell inquiry into the deaths of 27 migrants in November 2021 revealed the French navy is partly to blame over failure to prevent the deaths of migrants.

In its final report published on Thursday, the inquiry set out three key reasons some of the deaths were avoidable, including how people smugglers provided an "unsuitable" craft which they crowded with at least 33 people.

A French Navy vessel, which was closest to the boat, failed to respond to a mayday message, further delaying the search.

French police initially said the crew denied having received the message, but HM Coastguard radio recordings show the ship was using the same channel.

Meanwhile the UK coastguard made a "number of flawed decisions" for the rescue search operation into the incident known as "Charlie", which led to it being ended early on November 24 because of what was described as "failures in record keeping".

There was also a "widely held belief" within the Coastguard that callers from small boats "exaggerated their level of distress", the report said.

The report added: "If the search had continued throughout that day, some of the deaths would have been avoided.

"These members of the HM Coastguard were placed in an intolerable position because of chronic staff shortages at Dover and other deficiencies. These were known about for some time, but no effective action had been taken to alleviate them.

"This represents a significant, systemic failure on the part of the Government."

One of the two survivors of the tragedy gave evidence during the hearings, Issa Mohamed Omar, who described how he kept moving to survive the cold water.

"In the morning I would say around 10 people were still alive," he said.

"It's a harrowing experience and I just don't want to remember.

"All night I was holding to what remained of the boat, in the morning I could hear people screaming, it's something I cannot forget in my mind."

Cold water expert Professor Michael Tipton concluded that while some of those on board may have drowned immediately, it is likely the majority of victims died over a long period, by sunrise at 7am and between sunrise and the rescue in the afternoon the next day, the report said.