Labour detention plan not likely to stop small boats, says former head of Border Force
Labour’s plan to increase detention capacity is unlikely to stop small boat crossings and the “only real solution” is a deal with the EU, the former head of the UK’s Border Force has said.
Tony Smith told Sky News while the new government’s announcements – including reopening removal centres and staffing up the National Crime Agency (NCA) – showed it was “serious about immigration enforcement”, the challenge is vast.
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The scepticism comes as a local MP in the area where one of the detention facilities is located vowed to fight the plan, saying the site has a “dark history” and accusing Labour of dodging scrutiny.
Mr Smith said that while the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme would have targeted people from high-intake countries – essentially those who would qualify for asylum – the focus now is on a smaller cohort of people who have no right to remain.
That will likely only lead to a “fairly modest” increase in removals, he said.
He added: “There are steps under way in the Home Office to try to raise the removals rate which are all good things.
“But it’s going to be a big ask to see what kind of a dent this makes on small boat and irregular migration intake going forward.”
Tony Smith – former director general of the UK Border Force
‘Only so much government can do’
The Tories’ flagship Rwanda scheme intended to send people who arrived in the UK by small boat to Kigali to have their asylum claims processed there. If they were successful, they would have been granted refugee status to stay in the East African nation, not the UK.
The controversial plan failed to get off the ground after years of legal challenges, with Sir Keir Starmer declaring it “dead and buried” within days of taking office.
Labour’s returns plan is different in that it will target people who are here illegally – for example, if their asylum claims are rejected because their home country is deemed safe.
However, Mr Smith said it is not always easy to remove failed asylum seekers, while lots of people who arrive by small boat will likely qualify for protection if they are coming from places like Iraq and Syria.
The prime minister’s commitment to instead “smash the gangs” who smuggle people into the UK is “the right thing” he said, but “there’s only so much the government can do”.
“This is international organised crime. It requires an international approach,” Mr Smith said.
In his view, the “only real solution” is a third-country agreement with the EU, such as sending migrants who cross the Channel back to France.
However, while “that is possible in international law”, it would be “politically difficult” as the bloc would want something in return.
Pic: PA
Returns down 40%
Labour campaigned on a manifesto to scrap the Rwanda scheme, calling it an unworkable “gimmick” that had already cost £700m without anyone having been sent there.
It vowed to divert the money into a “Border Security Command” to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel, as well as clearing the asylum backlog to save money on hotels and removing people with no right to be here.
According to the Home Office, the removal of failed asylum seekers had dropped 40% since 2010, the start of the Conservatives’ 14-year period in government before they were ousted in July.
Plans announced this week include bolstering the National Crime Agency (NCA) with up to 100 new specialist intelligence officers to disrupt immigration gangs and targeting businesses which employ illegal immigrants.
Labour also said they would increase detention capacity by re-opening two Immigration Removal Centres (IRC) – Campsfield House in Oxfordshire and Haslar in Hampshire – initially with 290 beds.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the beefed-up NCA will work with Europol to help “smash criminal smuggling gangs”, while increasing returns will “establish a system that is better controlled and managed, in place of the chaos that has blighted the system for far too long”.
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Labour ‘dodging scrutiny’
But Ms Cooper’s opposite number, shadow home secretary James Cleverly, said it was a “pathetic response to a really challenging situation”.
And Lib Dem MP Calum Miller said repairing the immigration system “should be done thoughtfully, not through a mid-summer press release when there can be no parliamentary scrutiny”, as he warned he would fight the plan to reopen Campsfield House in his Bicester and Woodstock constituency.
The site closed in 2019 after years of problems including hunger strikes, self harm and suicides.
“When people are raising questions about how existing regimes are being administered, it’s very questionable why you would then rush to expand it,” Mr Miller said.
“I don’t think this is about just having a concern about a local question. It is about a national policy question. And I do believe that MPs across the House will share those concerns.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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