The prime minister has said that countries must do work “at home” to address the issue of people smuggling, as he rued the “soft touch” approach taken on illegal working by previous governments.
Keir Starmer revealed that since Labour took office, more than 24,000 people had been returned to their countries of origin.
Opening a summit on border security at London’s Lancaster House, the PM rejected the use of “gimmicks” as a response to irregular migration flows. In a jibe at the Conservative Party’s record on illegal immigration, with specific reference to the Rwanda deportation programme, he called for “pragmatic solutions” to the problem.
Ministers and enforcement staff from 40 countries are meeting in London this week to discuss international co-operation, supply routes, criminal finances and online adverts for dangerous journeys.
Nations attending include Albania, Vietnam and Iraq — countries from which migrants have travelled to the UK — as well as representatives from France, the US and China.
The Conservatives have dismissed the summit as nothing more than a “talking shop”.
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Addressing attendees of the Organised Immigration Crime Summit on Monday morning, Starmer said: “As we work together more closely I think than ever before we also have to take the tough measures at home in our own countries…
“That doesn’t mean gimmicks. You may be familiar with the gimmicks of the last 14 years here in Britain. It means understanding the problem and coming up with pragmatic solutions.
“Few things show this more clearly than our approach to border security. We inherited this total fragmentation between our policing, our border force and our intelligence agencies.
“There were gaps in our defence, an open invitation at our borders. It should have been fixed years ago but we’re doing it now with our new Border Security Command.
“We’re recruiting hundreds of specialist investigators… creating an elite border force.
“The police will be able to seize the phones and devices of migrants arriving on our shores and gather intelligence about smugglers.
“The police will be able to act when they have reason to believe that preparations are being made for criminal activity… and it will be an offence to endanger lives at sea.”
He said that the Conservative Party’s Rwanda policy spent £700 million “to remove just four volunteers”.
The Labour government has “returned more than 24,000 people who have no right to be here”, he added.
Even if the Rwanda scheme had worked as intended, it would have taken 80 years to reach 24,000 deportations, Starmer said.
The PM also confirmed that the government will introduce a new law to force companies to carry out “right to work” checks.
He said: “We have got to be honest here, for too long the UK has been a soft touch on this. Whilst the last government were busy with their Rwanda gimmick, they left the door wide open for illegal working, especially in short term or zero hours roles.
“Whilst most companies do the responsible thing and carry out right to work checks, too many dodgy firms have been exploiting a loophole to skip this process, hiring illegal workers, undercutting honest businesses, driving down the wages of ordinary working people.
“All of this of course fuelling that poisonous narrative of the gangs who promise the dream of a better life to vulnerable people yet deliver a nightmare of squalid conditions and appalling exploitation.
“Today we are changing that because this government is introducing a tough new law to force all companies to carry out these checks on right to work.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
Source: Politics
