Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer warned on Wednesday that the number of illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel “can’t be changed overnight” as arrivals for the year exceeded 14,000.
Sir Keir said that the situation could get even worse before any improvement is seen, in comments he made as he attended the NATO summit in Washington.
Asked by reporters if his pledge to “smash the gangs” meant stopping the small boat crossings he said: “I have always said the previous government’s Rwanda policy was a gimmick, it wouldn’t be a deterrent.
“They argued, if I recall, that even the passing of the legislation would be a deterrent. It clearly hasn’t worked, wasn’t going to work—we’ve had record numbers coming over this year.
“That unfortunately is what we’ve inherited—we can’t change that overnight.”
Pressed on whether the situation was likely to deteriorate before any improvement was felt, the prime minister responded: “It can’t be changed overnight. What we can do is set up our first steps straight away.
“I do not accept these are the only gangs that can’t be brought down. I’m determined that our Border Security Command working with others will do so. That’s why it’s got such a rich mix of security and intelligence, alongside prosecutors, alongside law enforcement.
“And we will get on with the recruitment and setting up that command at speed.”
The Border Security Command was announced by the Home Office earlier this week to “provide strategic direction to work across agencies,” including the National Crime Agency, the intelligence agencies, police, Immigration Enforcement, and Border Force.
The process for recruiting a border security commander to head up the body and report directly to the home secretary is already underway, according to the Home Office.
Quizzed again by reporters whether or not it was part of his plan to “stop the boats,” as had been the previous Conservative government’s, he responded: “Nobody but nobody should be making these crossings. The numbers are going up, not down. That is why we want to smash the gangs to stop those crossings.
“What I’m not going to do is pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number because that hasn’t worked in the past. But I do want to be clear that my intention is to break down the gangs that are running this vile trade.”
484 Migrants Cross Since Election
Official figures show 65 people crossed the Channel in a single boat on Monday, with 419 making the trip in six boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of around 70 people per boat and taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 14,058.This is a 10 percent increase on the amount recorded this time last year (12,772) and up 6 percent on the same timeframe in 2022 (13,318), according to analysis of government data.
Last year, 29,437 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain after making the journey, down 36 percent on a record 45,774 in 2022.
These latest crossings mean 484 immigrants have been recorded arriving via small boat since Labour’s election victory last week.
Several children were among those pictured being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, amid calm weather conditions at sea on Tuesday.
Groups of people were seen being escorted from Border Force boats and lifeboats wearing life jackets, with some wrapped in blankets.
Blustery weather in the English Channel on Wednesday appears to have prevented crossings being attempted for a third successive day.
