Sir Keir Starmer will today pledge to lead a ‘global crackdown’ on illegal immigration.
At a world-first summit with more than 40 countries in London, the Prime Minister will urge the likes of Vietnam, Iraq and France to unite behind a new approach to ‘smash’ smuggling gangs with greater intelligence-sharing amid record levels of illegal migration.
The PM wants to establish a new task force engaging international law enforcement teams to track gang activity and the supply of small boat equipment.
Writing in today’s Daily Mail, the Prime Minister says international co-operation is the ‘foundation’ of securing Britain’s borders. Some £30 million of funding will be directed to tackle supply chains, illicit finances and trafficking routes across Europe, the Balkans, Asia and Africa.
An extra £3 million will boost the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) capacity to prosecute smugglers and expand its international footprint.
The Prime Minister says the plan draws on his knowledge of what works from his time as Director of Public Prosecutions, when ‘numerous terrorist plots’ were foiled working across countries and that ‘it is obvious we should treat organised immigration crime in the same way’.
But the Tories have cast doubt on the plan and said the Government ‘has lost control’ of Britain’s borders after record Channel crossings in the first part of this year.
Some 6,642 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year in 119 boats, including more than 4,000 this month alone.
Yesterday Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appeared to blame the weather for the record numbers, saying the country’s border security was ‘dependent’ on the conditions.
She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘The really unacceptable situation that we’re in is because of the way the criminal gangs have taken hold, our border security ends up being dependent on the weather. And we cannot continue like this.’
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the Mail last night: ‘Keir Starmer’s claims to smash the gangs lie in tatters. Illegal migrants crossing the Channel are up 30 per cent since the election and so far 2025 has been the worst year ever.
‘This has happened as Starmer cancelled the Rwanda deterrent before it even started. He has lost control of our borders and the only defence he has is to cross his fingers and hope for bad weather.’