Starmer’s ‘smash the gangs’ plan on brink as Home Office officials don’t think it’ll work.l
Cracks are starting to emerge in support for Labour’s sound bite strategy for solving the small boats migrant crisis.
Labour have repeatedly said they will ‘smash’ the smuggling gangs (Image: PA )
Officials in the Home Office doubt Labour’s key strategy to “smash the gangs” to stop illegal migration into Britain will work, it has been reported.
According to the i newspaper officials in the department meant to tackle the issue are “underwhelmed” by the Government’s ideas and “nobody” understands how a new Border Security Command will operate.
Latest Home Office figures show nine boats carrying 572 people crossed the Channel on Saturday, bringing the total number of migrants to arrive so far this year to 32,691 which is up 22% on the same time last year (26,699).
The shocking numbers make stark reading for Prime Minister Keir Starmer who last week announced an extra £75 million for the Border Security Command project saying the Government would “treat people smugglers like terrorists”.
During a speech at the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow, the PM said it was his “personal mission” when he was director of public prosecutions to “smash the terrorist gangs” and that as Prime Minister, “it is my personal mission to smash the people-smuggling gangs”.
Migrants have been crossing the Channel in huge numbers since the General Election (Image: AP)
He added: “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.”
On Thursday Sir Keir also trumpeted deals to boost intelligence sharing, expertise and co-operation with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo at a meeting of the European Political Community in Budapest, Hungary.
But one Home Office official told the i newspaper: “It will not bring the crossings down, the smugglers will adapt and circumvent anything they put in place.
“The only way to cut illegal migration is a combination of safe and legal routes and a change in foreign policy.”
The migrant crisis remains a huge challenge for Labour (Image: PA)
Another Home Office source said: “It’s fine for us to talk about targeting smugglers in the UK but there are a lot of people in Europe who have to get involved.
“There are clearly political reasons about why they want to look tough on all this, but what is the impact actually going to be on the number of people arriving in the UK?”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
