Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stated in an interview that nearly all women attempting to reach the UK from northern France via small boats are raped during their journey, according to criminal gangs who control such crossings. She also mentioned a recent incident where about 300 anti-migrant protesters clashed with police near Gosport after migrants arrived via a new route. The Home Office confirmed a mid-Channel rescue operation that picked up 149 migrants and transported them to Kent for processing.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Shabana Mahmood, the UK home secretary, claimed in an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast that nearly all women attempting to reach Britain by small boats from northern France have been raped during their journey. She asserted that criminal gangs who are also people traffickers control who arrives in France and subsequently attempts to cross to the UK, highlighting a lack of government control over the border. Additionally, Mahmood noted that men attempting this crossing have also faced abuse and threats. This statement comes amid concerns about anti-migrant protests; for instance, around 300 protesters clashed with police at Gosport’s marina in Hampshire after migrants arrived via a new route to evade detection, leading to disturbances lasting into the early hours of Monday morning. The government has been working on measures to protect its borders and manage asylum seeker arrivals effectively.
Written for “Raped Women Migrants UK” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 56952: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-05
Nearly all women who attempt to reach the UK in small boats from northern France are raped on their journey, according to the home secretary.
uncertain
who → attempt → secretary
In an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast, Shabana Mahmood said sexual abusers would exploit most asylum seekers as long as traffickers continued to decide who came to Britain.
asserted
who → say → Britain
She said: 'We’re not in control of this border.
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We → say → border
The sifting of the people that end up in the north of France and are about to get on a dinghy is done by criminal gangs who are also, by the way, people traffickers.
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who → end → way
'You can almost guarantee that every woman that’s in the north of France has probably been raped along the journey.
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that → guarantee → journey
'Some of the men too, they’ve certainly been abused and threatened.
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they → abuse → men
That is not the model that should decide whether somebody gets to come to the UK, make this their place of sanctuary and ultimately become one of us.'
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this → decide → us
About 300 anti-migrant protesters clashed with police on Sunday after dozens of migrants arrived at a historic naval port via small boat using a 'new route' to evade detection.
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dozens → clash → detection
Flares were set off during the stand-off at a marina in Gosport that lasted into the early hours of Monday morning.
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that → set → morning
The Home Office confirmed that 149 migrants were picked up in a mid-Channel rescue operation by the RNLI alongside a French coastguard vessel.
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migrants → confirm → vessel
Nearly all women who attempt to reach the UK in small boats from northern France are raped on their journey, according to the home secretary
The migrants were transported by coach to a processing centre in Kent.
uncertain
migrants → attempt → Kent
Protesters gathered near Haslar Marina in Gosport where a number of migrants were seen arriving at around 10.15pm - having been transported aboard two RNLI boats late on Sunday evening.
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number → gather → evening
Demonstrators shouted 'send them back' and 'you're not welcome'.
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you → shout → them
The scene marks the second known incident of a landing of a large group of migrants this far west along the south coast in recent years.
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scene → mark → years
Speaking to the former Tory minister Rory Stewart and Tony Blair’s former close adviser Alastair Campbell, Mahmood said the balaclava-wearing protesters shutting down ports and praising her policies should 'sod off'.
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protesters → speak → policies
'They’re just troublemakers.
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They → ’re → ?
You know, they’d kill me in a minute if they could, and they’d definitely kick me out of my own country,' she said.
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she → know → country
'So let’s just be really clear about who and what they are.
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they → let → who
They don’t think I’m a true Brit and they hate the fact that I’m a Muslim.'
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I → think → fact
She added that she considered herself part of the 'pro-Palestine cause' and said she felt 'very uncomfortable' over the arrests of activists opposing the ban imposed on Palestine Action.
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she → add → Action
More than 82 people were arrested by Merseyside police outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool last Monday on suspicion of wearing or carrying articles supporting a proscribed organisation.
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people → arrest → organisation
In a demonstration organised by Defend Our Juries, scores of people sat outside the conference centre, with several holding handmade banners saying they supported the banned group Palestine Action.
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they → organise → group
A Merseyside police spokesperson said the force respected everyone's rights to protest lawfully while also aiming to keep the peace and ensure public safety.
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force → say → safety
The force said it made 'detailed and co-ordinated plans ahead of such events to ensure it can apply this consistently, fairly and proportionately'.
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it → say → this
The spokesperson said not everyone present at the demonstration had been committing a criminal offence.
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everyone → say → offence
Mahmood said: 'For those of us who have been in the pro-Palestinian cause all of our lives, these are people – sometimes you’ll know who they are, you know, you’ve been on the marches with them – it feels very uncomfortable to see them falling foul of section 13 of the Terrorism Act.
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them → say → Act
However, she defended enforcing the ban on the group, regardless of her own views: 'You’ve got to be able to apply your principles, even when it’s uncomfortable for you, because you’re going to really want to apply them when it’s something you, you know, with your whole heart, are feeling very passionately about.'
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you → defend → heart
The Aporia
