Plans for new offence to crack down on promoting Channel crossings online
(PA Graphics)
It comes as the Government grapples with a record number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel.
On Wednesday, arrivals passed more than 25,000 for the year so far, a record for this point in the year.
Assisting illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe the changes will give more powers to police and other agencies to disrupt criminal gangs.
According to analysis by the Home Office, around 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat told officials they used social media during their journey, including to contact agents linked to people smuggling gangs.
Home Secretary Yvette 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.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described anyone who sells the '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' (Jacob King/PA)
The National Crime Agency already works with social media companies to remove posts promoting crossings, with more than 8,000 taken offline in 2024.
NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said the proposed new offence will give them more options of how to target gangs and their business models.
Previous cases that could have been targeted under the proposed offence include a Preston-based smuggler jailed for 17 years for posting videos of migrants thanking him for his help.
Albanian smugglers who used social media to promote £12,000 'package deals' for accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival would also be in scope.
The Conservatives said it was 'too little, too late' and that only their proposal to automatically deport people who enter Britain via unauthorised routes can tackle small boat crossings.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Tinkering at the edges won't fix the problem.
'Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing.
'The only clear and enforceable plan is the Conservative Deportation Bill, a no-nonsense strategy that allows us to detain illegal arrivals immediately and remove them without delay. The British public deserve focused action, not more of Labour's dithering.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Small boat migrants who lodge human rights claims will DODGE removal to France under Labour's new scheme
Small boat migrants who lodge human rights claims in Britain will evade being returned to France under a massive loophole in Labour's new deal. They will be ruled out of new deportation measures if legal claims are outstanding or if they claim to be under 18, it emerged. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the human rights loophole would be 'ruthlessly exploited' by lawyers. A new treaty with President Emmanuel Macron 's government, published today, also disclosed the British taxpayer will foot the bill for both sides of the deal, which will see migrants who came here illegally across the Channel exchanged 'one for one' with others still in France. Migrants in France will be flown to Britain by the Home Office and handed a visa to live here for up to three months after successfully applying, while their final application is considered. Officials insisted there will be 'rigorous' security checks even though the French will not hand over any personal details on migrants coming here – including any criminal records they may hold on them. The first small boat arrivals could be detained as early as tomorrow for possible removal to France. However, the details of the treaty open up the prospect of human rights lawyers encouraging migrants to lodge spurious claims simply to avoid being earmarked for removal. Under the terms of the agreement the Home Office will confirm after selecting a migrant that 'at the time of their transfer that person will not have an outstanding human rights claim'. It also sets out how removals will be blocked if a migrant has outstanding legal challenges or has obtained an injunction from a court which bars their removal. There was confusion over a further clause referring to human rights claims which have been ruled by Home Office caseworkers to be 'clearly unfounded'. Mr Philp said the drafting of the clause showed even 'clearly unfounded' claims would successfully block deportation – but the Home Office disputed his reading of the text. A migrant attempts to board a dinghy off Gravelines beach, near Dunkirk, last week As it was unveiled for the first time less than a month ago, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hailed the deal as 'groundbreaking' and promised small boats migrants would be 'detained and returned to France in short order'. Mr Philp said: 'This deal is likely to be completely unworkable and will be ruthlessly exploited by human rights lawyers to prevent people being returned to France. 'Even a 'clearly unfounded' human rights claim will stop a return to France while it goes through a lengthy court process.' He added: 'This deal has no numbers in it - presumably because they are so small. 'And the deal says that France will not provide any information at all about those they are sending to the UK - so they could be criminals or terrorists and we wouldn't know. 'This is a bad deal, which won't work.' The treaty confirmed any migrant who claims to be an 'unaccompanied minor' will not be deported. There has been a series of cases in recent years which have seen asylum seekers falsely claim to be under 18. The UK will fund flights from France for migrants selected to come here under the scheme, the treaty went on, as well as paying for migrants to be removed. Home Office officials who accompany migrants on removals flights will not be allowed to use physical force in France, prompting questions about their safety aboard the aircraft. Both France and the UK will be able to suspend the deal with just one week's notice – and fully terminate it with one month's notice. Separate documents revealed migrants brought to the UK as part of the deal will be barred from working or accessing benefits during the initial three month period, while the Home Office considers whether it will grant a longer visa. It is unclear where the migrants will be housed, however, opening the prospect of them being placed in taxpayer-funded hotels. The number of people accepted from France will have a 'cap' equal to the number of small boat migrants who are sent back under the deal, the documents showed. But the Home Office was unable to confirm the level of the cap. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper repeatedly refused to say how many migrants will be returned under the deal because it 'could help the smuggling gangs'. Last month it was suggested the scheme would see 50 migrants a week sent back to France. At that rate, just 2,200 would be returned before the agreement expires on June 11 next year By comparison, a record 25,436 migrants have reached Britain by small boat since the start of the year, up 49 per cent on the same period last year. Meanwhile, pro-migrant groups have already indicated they are prepared to bring legal challenges against the new policy – just as they did against the previous Conservative government's Rwanda asylum deal. Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International UK said: 'We anticipate that this deal is likely to face legal challenges from people who quite reasonably will resist being swapped around like mere fodder rather than addressing the claim for asylum they have made.'
North Wales Chronicle
16 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Truss ‘carries quite a lot of blame' for Tory record, Badenoch claims
The current Tory leader said she was 'very focused on what the Conservatives are going to do now', after former prime minister Ms Truss accused her of 'repeating spurious narratives'. Speaking on a farm near Saffron Walden in her constituency, Mrs Badenoch also described herself as an 'Essex girl', and added that people from the county 'are grafters; they work hard'. The Leader of the Opposition faced questions about Ms Truss's claim that under the Conservatives, 'the economy was wrecked with profligate Covid spending by (Rishi) Sunak' and that 'the huge increase in immigration has been a disaster'. Mrs Badenoch told ITV Anglia: 'I know that, as a former prime minister and a former foreign secretary, (Ms Truss) carries quite a lot of that blame. 'The party's now under new leadership. 'I wasn't in charge during those 14 years; she was. 'That's a criticism she's probably levelling at herself.' The Tory leader also said she was 'telling the truth' about her party's record. 'I'm telling the truth that immigration was too high – that's why we have much tougher policies to fix immigration,' she continued. 'I am telling the truth that taxes were too high, that we were putting a lot of regulation on businesses, and what we're seeing is Labour making every single thing worse. 'They're doing that because they haven't learned many of the lessons that we learned. They haven't learned from our mistakes. They're making worse mistakes.' The Labour Government's mistakes include making 'no cut in spending at all – the books were not balanced', Mrs Badenoch claimed. 'We're spending more on welfare than we are on defence – that cannot continue,' she said. Mrs Badenoch had previously told The Telegraph that 'for all their mocking of Liz Truss, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have not learnt the lessons of the mini-budget and are making even bigger mistakes'. Ms Truss, who spent 49 days in Number 10, hit back when she said that 'instead of serious thinking', Mrs Badenoch was 'repeating spurious narratives'. She continued: 'I suspect she is doing this to divert from the real failures of 14 years of Conservative government in which her supporters are particularly implicated. 'It was a fatal mistake not to repeal Labour legislation like the Human Rights Act because the modernisers wanted to be the 'heirs to Blair'. 'Huge damage was done to our liberties through draconian lockdowns and enforcement championed by Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings. 'The economy was wrecked with profligate Covid spending by Sunak. The huge increase in immigration has been a disaster.' Mrs Badenoch also took questions about her identity, after she told the Rosebud podcast: 'I have not renewed my Nigerian passport, I think, not since the early 2000s. 'I don't identify with it any more, most of my life has been in the UK and I've just never felt the need to.' The North West Essex MP told ITV Anglia: 'I am definitely an Essex girl, that is a fact.' A London Assembly member before she took her Commons seat in 2017, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I represent an Essex constituency, these are my people. 'I was a Londoner, but Essex people asked me to be their MP, and I want to make sure that I do them proud. And I love this part of the world. 'It's fantastic being here. It's a rural community, and I've been talking to the farmers here. I talked about how my grandfather was a farmer, it's very hard work. 'The people of Essex and East Anglia – they are grafters. 'They work hard, and I want to make sure that we do right by them.' Mrs Badenoch spent Tuesday morning at a farm in Little Walden, where she tried her hand at harvesting wheat using a Claas Lexion combine harvester. She told farmers: 'A lot of farming just feels like constant interference. 'Everything is interfered from the minute you wake up.' Examples of interference included 'chemicals and insecticide, people you're hiring, how much you've got to pay them', plus changes to 'employers' NI (national insurance), then somebody wants to put pylons on, there's compulsory purchase, it's impacting the cost of the land, if you want to add a new farm building, there's planning applications', she said. 'It's just endless constant Government saying, 'You can't do this, you can't do that, you can't move forwards'. 'And the burden in my view has now crossed the threshold.'
Channel 4
16 minutes ago
- Channel 4
Prison system was days from collapse three times, report finds
Systemic failings in the prison system have left it on the brink of collapse three times in the past few years, says a new report from the former chief inspector of prisons. While the government is pointing the finger at the Conservatives, the failings date back through successive governments over 20 years, to when Labour was last in power.
