People smugglers who advertise Channel crossings or fake passports online face five years in prison under crackdown
The Home Office is scrambling to beef up their laws after a record 25,000 illegal migrants landed on Britain's beaches so far this year.
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The grim milestone piles massive pressure on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper - who has vowed to 'smash the gangs' and stop the boats.
But the Government has been accused of woefully failing to restore control to UK borders.
Ministers will introduce a new criminal offence under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament.
This will make it a crime to publish material which promotes breaking immigration laws - like flogging small boat crossings, dodgy passports and visas or promising black market work.
These things are already illegal, but ministers say the new law will help beef up the power of the cops and prosecutors.
Anyone caught flouting the law faces five years behind bars or a massive fine.
Ms Cooper said: 'Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country – whether on or offline – simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral.
'These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them – wherever they operate.
'We have to stay one step ahead of the ever-evolving tactics of people-smuggling gangs.'
A staggering 80 per cent of migrants arriving on small boats used social media sites like TikTok to plan their journey, according to the Home Office.
Small boat migrant found dead riddled with bullets on French coast after being gunned down 'by people smugglers'
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The Guardian
42 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Border patrol agents jump out of rental truck and ambush people at LA Home Depot
US border patrol agents carried out a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles on Wednesday, with officers jumping out of an unmarked rental truck and chasing and arresting more than a dozen people. Videos of the operation, and federal officials' statements boasting about the detentions, have raised questions about whether the US government was complying with a federal court order halting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling. That ruling, upheld last week by an appeals court, followed reports of Latino US citizens getting swept up in LA raids and accounts of undocumented people being targeted based on their appearance and whether they spoke Spanish. Clips of the early morning raid by Home Depot in the Westlake neighborhood, near MacArthur Park, showed masked, heavily armed officers jumping out of a yellow truck from Penske, a private rental company, and people fleeing. Day laborers often gather outside Home Depot stores looking for work and have been subject to aggressive immigration raids in southern California. One day-laborer present for the Wednesday raid told the Los Angeles Times that the Penske truck pulled up to the parking lot around 6.45am, with the driver telling people gathered in Spanish that he had work to offer. Someone then rolled up the back of the truck, and masked agents, including one in a cowboy hat, jumped out as people scattered, the witness said. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in an email that agents arrested 16 undocumented people from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua. Border patrol and DHS spokespeople did not respond to inquiries about the arrest tactics and whether agents had been targeting specific people. A spokesperson for Penske said in an email that it was aware of the videos, writing: 'Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances. The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today's operation and did not authorize this.' The company would reach out to DHS to 'reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future', the statement said. 'It is deeply disturbing that the federal government will stoop to these levels to continue their campaign of terror against working Angelenos,' said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (Chirla), a California-based group that is part of the lawsuit challenging the raids. 'These are Angelenos looking for an honest day's living … What we see in the video looks like an assault on people's liberties, an assault on individuals that were standing there looking for a job, and a targeted operation that was in fact lawless.' One witness, who is a member of the LA Tenants Union, a grassroots advocacy group, said they were setting up a 'know your rights' community defense table when the raid began. They took video, shared with the Guardian, of a group of officers piling back into the Penske truck after making arrests. They said they saw the officers detain street vendors and day laborers. 'These are people who need to make money to pay rent, who have no choice. It was really tragic that the officers came out in full force just flaunting their power and bringing another level of chaos,' said the witness, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing retribution. Fox News published footage from inside the Penske truck, which was reposted by Gregory Bovino, a border patrol commander in California, who called it 'Operation Trojan Horse'. Bovino also posted footage of arrests, writing: 'Different day, different illegal aliens, same objective. We're on a mission here in Los Angeles. And we're not leaving until we accomplish our goals.' Bovino has previously faced scrutiny for misleading the public about an immigration sweep, in which he said agents had a 'predetermined list of targets', many with criminal records. Records later showed that 77 out of 78 people detained had no prior record with the agency, according to a CalMatters investigation. He also falsely claimed that a US citizen who was arrested had been charged with 'assaulting' one of his officers, as the Guardian reported this week. Bill Essayli, the Trump-appointed US attorney for the region, also promoted the Home Depot raid on social media, writing: 'For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again. The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable.' Those statements have raised alarm among advocates as the US government is under court order restricting raids in the region. Essayli's spokesperson declined to comment, and a border patrol spokesperson declined to answer questions about Bovino's statements. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion In a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups challenging DHS arrests in LA, a federal court ruled last month the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing there was a pattern of officers targeting people based on factors including their race and ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, being present at specific locations, or doing certain jobs. An appeals court affirmed the ruling, arguing that the US government had not meaningfully disputed the conclusions that officers were relying on those discriminatory factors in an unconstitutional manner. Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, said in a statement Wednesday that the organization was 'deeply troubled' by the Home Depot arrests: 'While we continue to investigate these incidents, the evidence available so far raises serious concerns that the federal government may be in violation of the federal judge's July temporary restraining order.' That order, Tajsar noted, prohibited agents from stopping and detaining people 'based solely on generalizations about how they look, how they speak, or where they are, including where they work' throughout seven counties in the region. 'As shown at every step in the case thus far, the government seems unwilling to fulfill the aims of its racist mass deportation agenda without breaking the law,' he said. Cabrera, of Chirla, said that in recent weeks, immigrant communities have been able to move more freely with less fear of indiscriminate raids due to the court order. The Wednesday arrests have shattered that, he said: 'It seems to indicate the government do whatever they can do to cause panic and terror in the community.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
From planned funerals to spending 'fake' winnings: How dozens of Gala Bingo players thought they'd scooped their share of £1.6million... only to be told it was a GLITCH
More than 1,000 Gala Bingo players were left with shattered dreams and empty pockets after the prizes they thought they had won were the result of an online glitch. The players believed they had nabbed up to £10,000 each from a prize pot of £1.6million on the popular online gambling site. But when they attempted to withdraw their winnings, they were told by the company that they would not be able to cash the money. The glitch in the bingo company's system resulted in the prize pot increasing to £1.6million when it should have only reached a maximum of £150. As a result, 1,188 players were left disappointed and out of pocket. The gambling site then sent out an email to its customers explaining the wins were a result of a technical fault and confirming that they would not be receiving the thousands of pounds some of the players felt they were owed. One family told The Daily Mail that they had hoped to spend their winnings on a funeral for a relative and were upset and disappointed when Gala Bingo said they could not cash the £9,600 they thought they had won. The Scottish pair, who wished to remain anonymous, discovered their accounts frozen and the money nowhere to be seen after playing online on Monday. A Scottish couple had hoped to spend their £7,000 on a funeral for a family member who had recently died and were disappointed when they were told the winnings were not theirs to cash One player even had his account on the website frozen and claims he has had his chat room privileges stopped because he was encouraging others to complain The woman revealed that her partner had recently lost his mother and was over the moon to find the 1p game providing winnings of up to £7,200. She confessed that they both felt like the Scotsman's mother was watching over and smiling down at them. She added that she also tried to cash in on the good luck and enjoyed a game of bingo, taking home £2,4000 herself. The couple were relieved by the surprise windfall and planned to spend the jackpot on a fully pink-themed funeral in honour of his mother complete with pink kilts. The woman said: 'My partner went up to get his medication and when he came back and sat down he looked shocked. I double checked and it said we had won £2,400. 'We thought we could take care of the funeral with no worries about the expense.' The Scot added that she feared something wasn't right when she saw there were as many as 1,000 winners and the jackpost was still available. But she and her partner continued to play and their fears were even soothed by the bingo chat room host who told them to enjoy their winnings. She explained that she believed to have had a lucky streak, winning a pot worth £2,400 three times in a row but when it came to cashing the money, her account was frozen She said: 'I wasn't sure about it all but then the host said "enjoy your winnings" - they obviously didn't realise what was happening.' The 52-year-old woman said that some players were able to withdraw the money straight to their Santander bank accounts but others couldn't. She told the Daily Mail that since the shocking incident, Gala Bingo has frozen her and her partners accounts and even disabled her husband's chat room privileges. because of his complaining. As recompense, she said they had been given some money back in the form of vouchers but felt it wasn't enough. She said: 'My partner is angry and it's become all-consuming, especially at such a difficult time. this has just knocked him sideways. 'It's all been dealt with so badly, it wasn't right.' And the husband and wife weren't the only ones blindsided by the Gala Bingo glitch. Victoria Geer, 28, and a full time mother from Oxford confessed she was 'shocked and so disappointed' to be told by the gambling site that her winnings were in fact not hers at all. She explained that she believed to have had a lucky streak, winning a pot worth £2,400 three times in a row but when it came to cashing the money, her account was frozen. The mother-of0one said: 'I put in £15 at around 8pm and played the 1p Bingo but by 8.30pm I'd been roped in to run-up rewards but I didn't know what that was and then suddenly I got told I had won £2,400 three times in a row.' She said the company's decision to blame a glitch and refuse to pay out was 'very sneaky and crafty.' Ms Greer added that she had thought the prize money was real throughout because even the chat host congratulated her and told her to spend her winnings. The mother told the Daily Mail that she had hoped to spend the small fortune on things for her new baby boy and a holiday but revealed they were all now on hold. 'I was going to spend the money on my 18-week-old boy and get him some lovely things for Christmas and go away on holiday with my partner to Spain for a week in March. 'I wanted driving lessons and a test because I don't drive at the moment so I'm disappointed,' she said. The mother said that while she initially bought her daughter a pair of Crocs instead of a pair of 'cheap sandals from Primark' she was loathed to do any more shopping in case Gala Bingo decided to take her winnings from her bank account. Mother and daughter Susan, 64, and Beth, 31, said they couldn't believe it when they thought they had won almost £10,000 together. The pair said they had withdrawn as soon as they could after seeing the winning notification pop up on screen but their payment never made it to their account. 'We were playing and then Emily said she had won something and it turned out we had won £9,600 each and I just couldn't believe it,' Susan said. 'I was worried it wasn't legit and so I tried to withdraw it but after about four hours it said the payment was cancelled.' The 64-year-old, who recently suffered a stroke, said she thought the money would go some way to renovating her cottage to make it more accessible following the change in her health. 'I was going to spend my winnings on changes to my cottage to help now that I've had this stroke.' She added that she thought Gala bingo needed to be held accountable and said she wanted some recompense for the stress of the whole experience. Bethand Susan received one per cent of the money they thought they had won and a Gala Bingo voucher but have said it's not enough. 'Somebody has to pay for this and something has to be done. 'Why did no one flag the error? I was told I had won £2,4000 three times in a row - how did no one spot this mistake? 'And to only give people one per cent back - it's not enough, it doesn't cover the stress this has caused. We've only got £96 out of the £9,600 we thought we had. Beth had some better luck than her mother and managed to withdraw some of the money before the transaction could be cancelled, but it was just a small amount of the full total she believed she had won. She said: 'I managed to withdraw about £250 but now the rest in my account has been frozen and I can't withdraw it. Some people might have been able to withdraw thousands but we couldn't and we don't know. 'Now we've just been given a bingo bonus of £20 but has to be spent on Gala Bingo and within a week so we're tied in because it's not withdrawable.' She added that both she and her mother would not be returning. Beth said: 'I won't play again. I've vowed never to play again. It's ruined my trust.' But not everyone had such a difficult time and one Manchester resident, who wished to remain anonymous, was one of the lucky few who managed to cash in all her winnings. The woman was able to cash in £2,400 from Gala Bingo and has been spending the money on clothes and shoes for her eight-year-old daughter ahead of their caravan holiday. She explained that she didn't think there was anything odd about the win because she had previously managed to bag £1,500 from the site but withdrew the cash immediately to put towards her family holiday. She said: 'I was playing and realised I'd won at 7.44pm and withdrew the money to my bank account at 7.46pm and it was there within ten minutes. I didn't even think there was anything wrong or it was a glitch because I've won a few times before and once won £1,500.' She added she thought her success was down to her speed and said she assumes she was one of the first to cash in her prize. The Bingo player added that she was also led to believe her success was nothing out of the ordinary because she received an official email from the company warning her to consider what to do with such a large sum and signposting gambling support. But the Manchester mother confessed she has since been wracked with guilt knowing that not everyone was as lucky as her. She told the Daily Mail: 'I feel so awkward and guilty - people are talking about suing them and saying they are owed money but I don't know. 'I can't sleep - I didn't get to sleep until 4.30am on Monday and it's put me off spending the money. ' The mother said that while she initially bought her daughter a pair of Crocs instead of a pair of 'cheap sandals from Primark' she was loathed to do any more shopping in case Gala Bingo decided to take her winnings from her bank account. 'I went to the Old Trafford Centre but I couldn't buy anything, I'm scared that if I spend it and they ask for it back - I can't have that kind of debt. 'I'm just trying to buy sensibly for my daughter for the holidays.' The Daily Mail has contacted Gala Bingo for comment.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Rayner asks China to explain redacted mega-embassy plans
Angela Rayner has given China two weeks to explain why parts of its plans for a new mega-embassy in London are deputy prime minister's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government sent a letter asking for further information and requested a response by 20 August, the BBC understands. Beijing's plans for the new embassy have sparked fears its location - very near London's financial district - could pose an espionage risk. Residents nearby also fear it would pose a security risk to them and attract large protests. The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in London for comment. A final planning decision on the controversial plans will be made by 9 September, the BBC a letter seen by the PA news agency, Rayner, who as housing secretary is responsible for overseeing planning matters, asks planning consultants representing the Chinese embassy to explain why drawings of the planned site are blacked Home Office and the Foreign Office also received copies of the notes that the Home Office requested a new "hard perimeter" be placed around the embassy site, to prevent "unregulated public access", and says this could require a further planning are concerns, held by some opponents, that the Royal Mint Court site could allow China to infiltrate the UK's financial system by tapping into fibre optic cables carrying sensitive data for firms in the City of campaigners from Hong Kong also fear Beijing could use the huge embassy to harass political opponents and even detain them. Last month, the UK condemned cash offers from Hong Kong authorities for people who help in the arrest of pro-democracy activists living in Britain. Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, said: "No surprises here - Labour's rush to appease Xi Jinping's demands for a new embassy demonstrated a complacency when it came to keeping our people safe. Having deluded themselves for so long, they've recognised we were right to be vigilant."Responding to security concerns earlier this week, the Chinese embassy told the BBC it was "committed to promoting understanding and the friendship between the Chinese and British peoples and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Building the new embassy would help us better perform such responsibilities".China bought the old Royal Mint Court for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the complex will be the biggest embassy in Europe if it goes plan involves a cultural centre and housing for 200 staff, but in the basement, behind security doors, there are also rooms with no identified use on the application for the embassy had previously been rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over safety and security concerns. It resubmitted an identical application in August 2024, one month after Labour came to power. On 23 August, Sir Keir Starmer phoned Chinese President Xi Jinping for their first talks. Sir Keir confirmed afterwards that Xi had raised the embassy has since exercised her power to take the matter out of the council's hands amid attempts by the government to engage with China after a cooling of relations during the final years of Conservative Party ministers have signalled they are in favour if minor adjustments are made to the plan.
