Border Security Command funding to double to £150m to ‘smash the gangs’
Sir Keir Starmer is embarking on a week-long blitz on people smuggling as he hosts the Interpol general assembly and travels to Hungary.
People smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat “similar to terrorism”, Sir Keir Starmer has said in an address to Interpol’s general assembly.
The prime minister urged world leaders to “wake up to the severity of this challenge”, saying there is “nothing progressive about turning a blind eye” to people who die in the English Channel.
The speech in Glasgow came after he pledged a further £75m for the UK government’s Border Security Command (BSC), doubling the total funding to £150m over the next two years.
Sir Keir said the money would support “a new organised immigration crime intelligence unit – hundreds of new investigators and intelligence officers backed by state-of-the-art technology”.
Money will also go towards the National Crime Agency, including strengthening its data analysis and intelligence capabilities, and the government will “legislate to give those fighting these gangs enhanced powers too”, Sir Keir said.
The prime minister also announced a £6m increase in funding for Interpol and a further £24m for tackling serious international crime affecting the UK, including drugs, firearms and fraud, particularly in the Western Balkans.
It is not clear where all the money is coming from.
Labour’s initial £75m for the BSC came from scrapping the former Conservative government’s Rwanda scheme, while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday morning that the other half is new funding from last week’s budget.
Sir Keir told senior ministers and policing leads from Interpol’s 196 member states: “People smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism.
“We’ve got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes.”
He added that tackling people-smuggling gangs is his “personal mission” and “that starts here in the UK”.
“We’re going to treat people smugglers like terrorists. So, we’re taking our approach to counter terrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs,” he said.
“There is 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.”
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The event on Monday kicks off a week-long blitz by Sir Keir on people smuggling, after he vowed in the election campaign to “smash the gangs” and set up the BSC to help him achieve that goal.
Chanel Channel crossings reached this year’s high in October, with more than 5,000 people crossing.
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Over the first two days of November, 433 people arrived in the UK via small boats.
However, the government has refused to be drawn on how soon their plans could result in a reduction of the dangerous journeys.
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Speaking to reporters after Sir Keir’s speech, a Downing Street spokesperson said ministers are “going to make progress as rapidly as is possible” on migrant crossings but would not reveal if there was a target in mind.
Appearing on Sky News on Monday morning, Ms Cooper also refused to be drawn on when the number of small boat crossings could fall as a result of the new funding, or if French authorities could be doing more.
A Conservative Party spokesperson 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.”
