Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will announce extra funding during the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow on Monday, the first time in more than 50 years in the UK, Sky News reports.
The announcement, which kick-starts a week-long crackdown on people smuggling, will increase the total funding for the Border Security Team (BSC), set up by the Labour government to “wipe out gangs” – a new slogan introduced during the election campaign – for the next two years to £150 million.
Labour originally allocated £75m to BSC thanks to the former Conservative government’s scrapping of the Rwanda scheme, which sent illegal immigrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement.
The new £75m will go towards National Crime Agency (NCA) technology so agents can use data and “intensify co-operation” with other European countries to “investigate and disrupt human smuggling networks.” It will also fund 300 Border Agency command staff and 100 specialist NCA investigators and intelligence officers to catch criminals who facilitate people smuggling.
The ability of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to bring convictions faster in international organised crime cases will also be funded.
Sir Keir is expected to tell senior ministers and police chiefs from Interpol’s 196 member countries:
“The world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge. I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesn’t stop at our borders. There’s nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel. This is a vile trade that must be stamped out – wherever it thrives. So we’re taking our approach to counter-terrorism – which we know works, and applying it to the gangs, with our new Border Security Command. We’re ending the fragmentation between policing, Border Force and our intelligence agencies.”
The government announced in the King’s Speech that it will introduce a Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill in an attempt to tackle the problem of illegal immigrants arriving in the UK, especially on small boats. It will be the fourth Immigration Bill since 2022, as both the former Conservative and current Labour governments have struggled to tackle the issue.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper did not elaborate on how soon the number of small boat crossings could fall as a result of the funding.
She said the Prime Minister had made it clear that “we want to see significant progress” but that the government needed partnerships with other countries and “that is what we are working on.”
Asked whether the French authorities could do more to stop the sailings, she said more could be done through all European countries “across the supply chain” and the UK “needs to be in partnership with those countries.”
Illegal migration breaks records in UK
In October, the number of crossings on small boats reached a high this year of more than 5,000. In the first two days of November, 433 people arrived in the UK on small boats.
A total of 31,904 people have made such a journey this year, 16.5 per cent more than in 2023 (26,699) but still 22.1 per cent less than in 2022 (39,929).
Sir Keir will attend the European Policy Community summit in Hungary later this week, where migration and people smuggling are expected to be discussed.
The Prime Minister will also announce a £6 million increase in support for Interpol to fight global organised crime and £24 million to tackle serious international crime affecting the UK, particularly in the Western Balkans.
A Conservative Party spokesman said:
“Keir Starmer’s announcement on tackling gangs will mean absolutely nothing without a deterrent to stop migrants wishing to make the dangerous journey across the Channel.It is a shame that Starmer has not recognised the extent of the crisis in the Channel sooner, as he and the Labour Party voted against numerous measures to stop the gangs while they were in opposition. If Starmer continues to ignore the need for a deterrent to stop migrants crossing the Channel, there will be more deaths in the Channel as more and more migrants continue to cross it. He needs to get a grip of the crisis in the Channel.”
