Latest news with #MartinHewitt
Telegraph
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer hires 300 extra officers to stop record migrant crossings
An extra 300 officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) will be deployed to target Channel people smugglers in a new bid to prevent migrant crossings hitting a record this year. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, announced a £100 million investment in border security which will pay for the NCA to get an additional 300 officers to work on organised immigration crime. It is three times the uplift of 100 NCA officers when the Government set up the Border Security Command under former police chief Martin Hewitt. The money will also pay for new state-of-the-art technology and equipment to detect and disrupt the crime gangs behind the small boats, including hi-tech undercover cameras, listening devices and AI-assisted intelligence and data analysis tools. Since taking up the post, Mr Hewitt has boosted the use of undercover tactics, covert surveillance and intercepts to track down and stop the people smugglers. The NCA claims to have prosecuted major smuggling gang kingpins, seized more than 600 small boats and engines, and disrupted a further 351 criminal gangs through the work of the NCA. Some of the extra money will also support the new pilot of the 'one-in, one-out' returns agreement between the UK and France, which for the first time will see migrants who arrive illegally on small boats sent back to France. In exchange, the UK will take a similar number of asylum seekers from France. Ministers hope the extra investment, the new deal with the French and France's pledge to intercept the smugglers' taxi boats at sea for the first time, will reverse the upward surge in crossings which have hit record levels this year. Some 25,436 migrants have already crossed since the New Year, up nearly 50 per cent on both 2024 and 2022, when a record 45,755 reached the UK on small boats. Unless the new measures work and deter or stop the migrants, the crossings are on course to pass 60,000 if the upward trajectory remains the same. Ms Cooper said: 'For six years, the small boat smuggling gangs were allowed to embed their criminal trade along our coast, and have shown a ruthless ability to adapt their tactics and maximise their profits, no matter how many lives they put at risk. 'They must not be allowed to get away with this vile crime. 'That is why this government has developed a serious and comprehensive plan to dismantle their business model, from disrupting their supply chains across the European continent to clamping down on their illegal working operations here in the UK. 'In the last twelve months, we have set the foundations for this new and much stronger law enforcement approach – establishing the new Border Security Command, strengthening the NCA and UK police operations, increasing Immigration Enforcement, introducing new counter terror style powers in our Border Security Bill, and establishing cooperation agreements with Europol and other countries. 'Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan, and will turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment.' However, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the £100m was a gimmick that would make no real difference. 'There have been more than 25,000 illegal crossings so far this year, making it the worst year in history. Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters,' he said. 'They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants. The Conservative Deportation Bill is the only real solution. Immediate detention, rapid removal and shutting down these illegal networks for good. 'This weak Labour government has lost control of our borders, and we now see rapes and sexual assaults by illegal immigrants reported on a near daily basis.' In a statement to The Telegraph, however, Mr Hewitt said: 'This additional £100 million investment in our Border Security Command represents a critical escalation in our fight against the criminal gangs exploiting our immigration system and putting lives at risk through dangerous Channel crossings. 'This significant immediate funding will deliver cutting-edge technology, additional officers, and enhanced intelligence capabilities to dismantle the organised criminal networks at every level. 'This comprehensive package will strengthen our frontline capabilities with more National Crime Agency staff focused on intelligence targeting of crime gang members, state-of-the-art detection technology, and sophisticated new equipment designed to disrupt organised immigration crime. 'We're also investing in our domestic response, bolstering our Organised Immigration Crime Domestic Taskforce and intensifying illegal working enforcement to tackle the UK-based elements of these criminal operations. 'Crucially, this funding recognises that organised immigration crime is a global issue requiring a global response. 'We're extending our reach upstream and across transit countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia to target criminal gangs at source, disrupt human trafficking networks, remove the supply of dangerous small boat equipment, and counter the lies criminals tell vulnerable people about safe passage. 'The investment will also support the implementation of the UK's new 'one-in, one-out' returns agreement pilot with France and the enhanced powers under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, including new capabilities to seize and analyse digital devices for intelligence gathering and criminalise the dissemination of online material that promotes breaches of immigration law. 'As part of the government's Plan for Change to secure our borders, we are working hand-in-hand with international partners to use every tool at our disposal to stop these criminal gangs getting away with undermining our border security, and to protect the vulnerable people they are exploiting for profit.'
BBC News
31-07-2025
- BBC News
Small boats to cross the English Channel seized in Bulgaria
Small boats due to be used by people smugglers in the English Channel have been seized from a lorry in Crime Agency (NCA) officers worked with Bulgarian law enforcement partners to seize the 25 inflatable boats, which had just crossed the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint near the border with Greece and NCA said the seizure was thought to be the biggest single detection of small boats in Beer, NCA's regional head of investigation, said: "Taking them out before they could reach the shores of northern France means we have not only prevented crossings from happening and lives being put at risk, but also put a dent in the profits of the people smugglers." Mr Beer said the boats, which when inflated were about 8m (26.2ft) long and could have carried a total of up to 1,500 people, were "completely ill-suited for use at sea". The seizure was made as part of an NCA operation, supported by Home Office International Operations, targeting supplies of small boat equipment moving into operation gathered intelligence which led to Bulgarian customs officers intercepting the Hewitt, the UK's border security commander, added: "This seizure marks a significant step forward in our joint work alongside the NCA to disrupt the supply chain fuelling these dangerous small boat crossings." Mr Beer said work with international partners had intercepted more than 650 boats and engines since early under 37,000 people crossed the English Channel and 695 small boats arrived in the UK without permission in 2024, according to Home Office than 24,000 people have crossed the Channel on small boats so far this year, current figures show.
Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Home Office boss paid over £455,000 despite record boat migrants
The top official in the Home Office was given a total pay packet of nearly half a million pounds including a tax-free 'golden goodbye' of £30,000 when he left the department in March. Overall, senior civil servants in the department received bonuses totalling between £80,000 and £120,000 in the last financial year, a period in which a record number of migrants arrived in small boats. They included Martin Hewitt, border security commander, appointed by Sir Keir Starmer to head his new unit in charge of the government's efforts to tackle the Channel migrant crisis, who was paid a salary of between £200,000 and £205,000. Joanna Rowland, who oversees the accommodation of asylum seekers, was paid a bonus of between £15,000 and £20,000, in addition to a salary of up to £170,000. Details of the pay packets of senior Home Office mandarins were disclosed in the department's annual report, published on Thursday, which set out the remuneration of senior officials in £5,000 brackets for the 2024/25 financial year. In the same period a total of 38,177 migrants crossed the Channel, according to Home Office figures, a 24 per cent rise on the 30,878 who arrived the year before. • On the trail of gangsters who get rich smuggling migrants to Britain On Thursday there were chaotic scenes on French beaches as dozens of migrants were seen sprinting into the water to scramble onto dinghies off Gravelines beach. No police were seen on the beach but a French rescue boat was observed passing life jackets to migrants on board one dinghy at sea. They were later seen retrieving the life jackets moments before a Border Force vessel picked up the migrants once it had passed into UK waters. As of March 31, there were 32,345 asylum seekers in hotels, up from 29,585 in June last year, and an additional 71,339 in other taxpayer-funded accommodation such as bedsits and multiple-residence properties. Sir Matthew Rycroft, who left his role as Home Office permanent secretary on March 28, received an overall remuneration package of between £455,000 and £460,000. This included his £200,000 annual salary after a 24 per cent pay rise on the previous year. He was given a £50,000 'exit payment,' of which £30,000 was tax-free. This was on top of a performance-related bonus of between £20,000 and £25,000, more than double the bonus he received the previous year. Rycroft, who served as the top mandarin at the Home Office for five years following stints at the Department for International Development and as Britain's representative at the United Nations and ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, also received £179,000 in pension benefits over the 2024/25 financial year. Other officials to be given large performance-related bonuses included Chloe Squires, director-general of homeland security, who was awarded £15,000-£20,000; Rebecca Ellis, the strategy director of the Home Office, and Robert Hall, the director of communications, who received £10,000-£15,000. Philip Douglas, the head of Border Force, was the only senior official to see a reduction in his performance-related bonus, which fell from £15,000-£20,000 in 2023/24 to £10,000-£15,000 in 2024/25. The Home Office annual report said that bonuses were paid on 'performance levels attained' and were made as part of the appraisal process. The Home Office did not respond for a request for comment. Rycroft has been approached for comment.
Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Plan to end asylum hotels will fail, watchdog warns
However, Mr Bolt said: 'I think there's a more fundamental issue about accommodation, or at least housing stock, there simply isn't sufficient housing stock to be able to deal with the sorts of numbers in the system. I think it's really, really challenging.' A Downing Street spokesman said he did not agree that there would be a lack of housing stock. 'I don't accept that. As I say, the Government is committed to restoring grip to the asylum system, allowing us to end the use of hotels,' he said. Mr Bolt, who previously served as borders chief between 2015 and 2021, and returned as interim chief inspector in June last year, also told peers he wrote to ministers to say he 'wasn't convinced smashing the gangs was the right way of thinking about things' in tackling Channel crossings. He said: 'It did seem to me the challenge was to change the risk reward ratio for those people involved in organised immigration crime, that's really a difficult thing to achieve, because it's relatively low cost, relatively low risk for the perpetrators and highly profitable. 'I'm not sure I feel very optimistic about the ability to smash the gangs and, in any event, it seems to me with organised crime, the best thing you can do is deflect it to something else you're less concerned about rather than expect to eradicate it.' He added that he believed the establishment of the Border Security Command has brought energy and focus to the issue, and it has been agreed with its chief, Martin Hewitt, for the unit to be inspected later this year. But he also agreed more needed to be done to tackle the issue in the UK and look at what is attracting people to come to the country. Mr Bolt said: 'The availability of illegal working, that I think is one of the issues the Home Office has tried to focus on and tried to close down as best it can and will continue to have to work very hard on that.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK to work with allies and social media to tackle people smuggling adverts
The UK has pledged further action with allies and social media platforms to tackle people smuggling adverts online as part of efforts to cut small boat crossings and other illegal migration services. A new agreement made at the UK's Organised Immigration Crime Summit on Tuesday will see the UK, US, Albania, Sweden, Tunisia and Vietnam take more collective action to target criminal gangs advertising illegal migration online, and share more data on the issue. The agreement will also see governments work with social media companies – including Meta, TikTok and X, who were present at the summit – to design out methods being used by criminal gangs to advertise and glorify their people smuggling activities online. The Home Office said 18,000 social media accounts used to sell spaces on small boats have been taken down by the National Crime Agency (NCA) since last July – 10,000 more than the previous year – but that further action is still needed. As part of the new collective action agreement, governments will work with online platforms to help improve detection and moderation tools for identifying content linked to people smuggling. Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt said: 'Criminal gangs are exploiting online platforms to prey on vulnerable people, luring them into dangerous and illegal journeys that undermine our border security. 'This international agreement is a vital step in shutting down their online operations and dismantling their networks across the world. 'These organised crime groups operate across borders, which is why the UK has united with five nations to take decisive action – strengthening intelligence-sharing and taking away platforms that these criminals depend on for their business. 'Under the Government's Plan for Change, we will continue working with global partners to dismantle smuggling networks, bring perpetrators to justice, and protect vulnerable people from falling into their hands.' The summit has also seen nations agree to increased intelligence-sharing, including between law enforcement agencies, while the UK is to lead work on investigating how criminal gangs are using online spaces. Graeme Biggar, director-general of the NCA, said: 'Yesterday we saw law enforcement from over 40 nations come together in a shared endeavour to stop these criminal gangs. 'We have explored challenges, sought solutions, and reinforced our shared commitment to tackling the threat and harm caused by people smuggling. 'International intelligence-sharing and co-operation is absolutely crucial to track criminal activity across borders, allowing us to put a stop to these dangerous criminals, and this summit has ensured that we can build on our work to put a stop to these gangs, protect our borders and save lives.'
