
Rob England
Senior Data Journalist at BBC
Data Journalist 📈 BBC Verify 🟩🟦, @BBCNews. DMs open or contact: [email protected]
Articles
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3 weeks ago |
yahoo.com | Tom Edgington |Rob England
Good weather and the willingness of people smugglers to cram more people onto small boats have been highlighted by the government as factors driving the level of migrant Channel crossings. The Home Office has released figures showing that the number of "red days" - when conditions are considered favourable for small boat crossings - peaked in 2024-25. The figures also show a rise in "severely overcrowded boats" in the same period.
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1 month ago |
bbc.co.uk | Rob England |Tom Edgington
Image source, Getty ImagesRob England and Tom EdgingtonThe prime minister has made tackling illegal immigration and "restoring order" to the asylum system a priority for the government. Sir Keir Starmer has promised to "smash the gangs". It follows predecessor Rishi Sunak's pledge to "stop the boats". Yet small boat crossings have reached record levels for this point in the year.
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1 month ago |
bbc.com | Ben Chu |Tom Edgington |Rob England |Lucy Gilder
What are the challenges facing the government's immigration plan? Ben Chu, Tom Edgington, Rob England and Lucy GilderBBCWhen it comes to reducing UK immigration, there have been plenty of promises and targets from successive governments over the last 15 years, but the numbers remain high. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now pledging to "take back control of our borders", promising tighter rules to bring down the numbers "significantly".
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2 months ago |
bbc.com | Tom Edgington |Lucy Gilder |Rob England
Has the government really 'returned' 24,000 people? Tom Edgington, Lucy Gilder & Rob EnglandPA MediaSir Keir Starmer has highlighted his government efforts to tackle illegal immigration, saying: "We've returned more than 24,000 people who have no right to be here." He was speaking at an international summit in London aimed at tackling people-smuggling gangs.
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Mar 27, 2025 |
ca.news.yahoo.com | Esme Stallard |Jonah Fisher |Becky Dale |Rob England
Water companies released raw sewage into England's rivers and seas for a record 3.61 million hours last year, a slight increase on 2023. The data released by Environment Agency on Thursday showed that although the number of spills was down each spill lasted longer on average - resulting in a higher total number of hours. Some spilling can be legal, but concern has been mounting amongst scientists about the harm that regular sewage spilling is causing the country's aquatic life.
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The UK asylum appeals backlog hit a new record high in March 2025. There’s 88% more cases in the system than last year. The government has pledged to clear it as part of its plans to fix the asylum system. More here on BBC Verify’s live page ➡️ https://t.co/6owi6lJS2M https://t.co/zfHRVYpRhl

The government are packing more people into asylum hotel rooms to save money. It’s driving down the cost per night - falling from £162 in March 2023 to £118 in January this year. We confirmed the shift via FOI data. ➡️https://t.co/3qgqfw2Lys

Ros Atkins’ take on the White House claims against the BBC https://t.co/1gohw3ImWQ