An Albanian migrant who travelled by small boat to work in a UK cannabis farm has dismissed Keir Starmer’s plan to “smash” the trafficking gangs responsible for Channel crossings as “impossible”.

When asked about his tactics for curbing illegal migration the Prime Minister has consistently referred to his previous record dealing with terrorism as head of the Crown Prosecution Service.

But the migrant, who dealt with smugglers to get to Britain, doesn’t take the “smashing the gangs” plan seriously.

“I’m laughing at them. It’s not possible to do that,” he told the Express.

He explained that in his experience even the process of differentiating between a migrant and a human trafficker on the beaches of northern France was incredibly difficult.

“I don’t think it’s possible [to smash the gangs]. There are too many people [making the journey and] they can’t find the traffickers because they can’t tell who is who,” he added.

“There are too many traffickers, not just two or three, hundreds. You might find one, but not [all of them].”

The migrant said his interactions with the French authorities also suggested there was a lack of willingness on their part to properly deal with the issue.

“We’ve been stopped on the way to the beach [by] the French police,” he said.

“They didn’t say anything, just slashed the boat. We returned back [to the camp and waited] and then we took another boat.

“[Another] time they found us under the trees because we were scared of them and they just told us to go.

“People who are watching [the beaches] they can stop everything [but don’t].”

He believes that the reality of the situation is that the French police want the migrants to leave and taking a dinghy to Britain is one way to do that.

He added: “If you don’t want immigrants in your place you let them go from the UK to France. They want to clean the place and they let them [leave].”

All of which gives the distinct impression to the Albanian national that travel by dinghy from the UK from France will continue indefinitely.

“From my experience, I think it will never stop,” he concluded.

In response to the the migrant’s claims a Home Office spokesperson said: “Criminal gangs are getting away with undermining our border security and putting lives at risk.

“Our new Border Security Command will deliver a major overhaul and upgrade in law enforcement against smugglers and trafficking gangs to boost our border security.

“State-of-the-art technology and enhanced intelligence capabilities will ensure we are using every tool at our disposal to dismantle this vile trade.”