Starmer to double Border Force funding as PM unveils fast-tracked justice for people smugglers akin to summer riots
4 November 2024, 00:01 | Updated: 4 November 2024, 05:31
People smugglers are set to face fast-track justice through UK courts as part of the government's latest crackdown on Channel crossings.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce today that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will be told to speed up charges for smuggles in an effort to clamp down on illegal Channel migration.
Downing Street sources revealed the PM wants the CPS to deal with smugglers similarly to the swift justice handed out to rioters over the course of this summer in the wake of far-right riots.
The announcement comes as Starmer is set to double funding to Border Security Command as part of a speech on Monday.
Read More: More migrants cross Channel so far in 2024 than in whole of last year
Starmer's speech at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow will see the government take a hard stance on the issue of cross-Channel migration, with the PM set to travel to Hungary for talks on tackling people smuggling.
Monday's speech will see Sir Keir pledge another £75 million to the new-look border command, taking total funding to £150 million over two years.
The money will be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators who will target criminals engaged in people smuggling.
The Prime Minister is expected to say: "The world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge. I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesn't stop at our borders.
"There's nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel."
The Government also intends to legislate to give border security forces "enhanced" powers, expected to involve expanding counter-terror tactics to deal with people smuggling.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, announced in the King's Speech in July, will be the fourth piece of immigration legislation since 2022 as successive governments have attempted to tackle this issue.
The Prime Minister is also expected to say: "This is a vile trade that must be stamped out - wherever it thrives. So we're taking our approach to counter-terrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs, with our new Border Security Command.
"We're ending the fragmentation between policing, Border Force and our intelligence agencies."
His speech comes after more than 5,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in October, making it the busiest month of the year so far for crossings.
Crossings continued into November, with 433 people arriving in the UK via small boats over the first two days of the month.
In total, 31,904 people have made the journey so far this year, up 16.5% on the same point in 2023 (26,699) but still down 22.1% on the same point in 2022 (39,929).
Later in the week, the Prime Minister is expected to attend a summit of the European Political Community in Hungary, where migration and people smuggling are expected to feature on the agenda.
Along with the investment in the Border Security Command, the Prime Minister will announce a £6 million increase in the UK's support for Interpol as it tackles global organised crime.
The Government will also provide £24 million to tackle serious international crime affecting the UK, including drugs, firearms and fraud, particularly in the Western Balkans.
Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency, said: "Serious and organised crime causes more harm, to more people, more often than any other national security threat. And almost all of serious and organised crime now has an international nexus.
"Distance, borders and languages are meaningless to criminals. This is why collaborations with Interpol have never been as important as they are today.
"Tackling organised crime, and especially immigration crime, remains a top priority for the NCA.
"We are currently leading around 70 investigations into the gangs or individuals involved in the highest echelons of this type of criminality, and we are devoting more resources to it than ever before."
