ENGLISH CHANNEL - MARCH 06: An inflatable dinghy carrying around 65 migrants crosses the English Channel on March 06, 2024 in the English Channel. According to official figures 401 migrants arrived in the UK by small boat on Monday, the busiest day of the year so far for Channel crossings. This brings the provisional total number of UK arrivals so far this year to 2,983. Government data indicates this is more than the 2,953 logged this time last year and surpasses the running totals documented between January 1 and March 4 each year since current records began in 2018. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) The Home Office said on Wednesday it will recruit as many as 100 intelligence officers at the National Crime Agency to help dismantle organised crime groups operating small boat crossings by asylum-seekers across the English Channel. It also said it would increase migrant detention capacity and crack down on firms hiring illegal workers, as the new Labour administration grapples with an issue that undermined the Conservatives under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The measures are part of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s plan to lift the removal rate — including of asylum-seekers whose claims were rejected — to the highest level since 2018 over the next six months, according to the statement. The Home Office said that effectively means removing over 14,389 people.
“By increasing enforcement capabilities and returns, we will establish a system that is better controlled and managed, in place of the chaos that has blighted the system for far too long,” Cooper said.
Immigration was a major theme in July’s general election, which Labour won in a landslide, and has continued to dominate political discourse following the outbreak of far-right, anti-immigration riots across the country this month. The disorder was triggered by misinformation about the alleged perpetrator of a deadly knife attack on a young girl at a dance class in northern England.
During the election, Starmer promised to tackle the gangs organising crossings by asylum-seekers, and soon after taking office he scrapped Sunak’s policy to deport migrants to Rwanda — a plan that the Tories in any case never put into action. Labour’s calculation was that Sunak had failed in his key promise to “stop the boats” and that voters were open to a new approach.
But there’s a risk for Labour if it doesn’t show progress quickly enough. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which drove the Conservatives to distraction in the run-up to the election, is determined now to make life difficult for Starmer on immigration — especially on the small boat crossings.
A total of 827 people have crossed the channel in the past week, though Labour said arrivals are lower since it took office compared to the same period last year. It also said there have been nine return flights in the past six weeks.
Cooper’s plans were dealt an early blow following reports that her top pick to lead a new Border Security Command turned the job down. The government confirmed on Monday the recruitment process is still under way.