The new £75m masterplan that ‘will stop’ migrants getting from France to UK on small boats
The “violent and dangerous” smuggling gangs behind the small boats crisis will be targeted with the latest technology as Britain invests £75million in border security.
Ruthless criminals who make millions from the sending people across the Channel in flimsy dinghies will be tracked and intercepted with “game-changing” new equipment.
Criminals who herd desperate people onto dinghies will be targeted (Image: Getty)
New funding for the National Crime Agency will support criminal investigations and “disruption operations” in the UK, across Europe and beyond.
This comes on top of cash to recruit 100 specialist intelligence and investigative officers. Extra staff across Europe will go after the gangs and break up their supply chains.
In an early success, staff deployed to Bulgaria’s border saw 10 small boat engines seized. This came on the heels of the seizure of 20 small boats and engines in this “transit country”.
Cooperation with partners in the Netherlands and Italy led to the seizure of around 600 “dangerous” lifejackets which would have been used by gangs sending migrants across the Channel.
Ms Cooper said: “Criminal smuggling gangs who organise small boat crossings undermine our border security and put lives at risk, as we tragically saw again yesterday. The new government is rapidly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs.
“This includes funding new technology to support specialist operations being run across Europe and beyond. It’s vital that we disrupt the way these violent and dangerous gangs operate.
“That means going after their supply chains, so boats and engines don’t reach the French coast, tracking their communications, and following flows of money through the criminal networks. In the coming months, we will be scaling up our Border Security Command, recruiting more investigative officers and working more closely with our European partners to ensure these criminal gangs are stopped and brought to justice.”
On Friday, 395 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, taking the total for the year to 25,639. This compares with 33,611 who had arrived by the same date in 2022.
Last week Home Secretary Yvette Cooper met with interior and security ministers from across the G7 nations in Avelliono in Italy.
She met with the new French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, and has agreed to visit France before the end of the year to discuss new ways that Britain can work with close neighbours to crack down on people smugglers and traffickers.
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Rachel Reeves warned £50bn spending spree will cause ‘mortgage misery’ for millions
Rachel Reeves has been warned that plans to increase borrowing by £50 billion would cause “mortgage misery” for millions of homeowners.
Analysis by the Chancellor’s own officials has revealed her plot to change Britain’s borrowing rules could mean increased mortgage costs, The Telegraph reported.
The chancellor is being warned plans to increase borrowing could have consequences for millions (Image: Getty)
Ms Reeves is expected to ease borrowing rules to hike spending in her October 30 budget – a process known as “fiscal loosening”.
But an official Treasury report is said to warn that for every £25 billion in additional borrowing, interest rates could increase by anywhere from 0.5 and 1.25 percentage points.
It has led to fears among Treasury insiders that an expected extra £50 billion on the Government credit card could trigger a huge rise in mortgage costs for families.
With interest rates currently standing at 5 percent, a worst-case-scenario rise to 6.25 percent would add around £200 a month to the typical mortgage repayment – just as rates were starting to cool.
In a dramatic intervention, Tory shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt last night urged the Office for Budget Responsibility to halt the plans. Mr Hunt said the watchdog should block any changes to borrowing rules, citing the fact Britain’s debt pile recently surpassed 100 percent of GDP for the first time since the 1960s.
He said: “The consistent advice I received from Treasury officials was always that increasing borrowing meant interest rates would be higher for longer – and punish families with mortgages.
“That would be a hammer blow and lead to mortgage misery for many people just at the moment the Bank of England is expected to bring interest rates back down.”
Despite the stark warnings, Ms Reeves has insisted she will borrow to fund a capital investment programme, repeatedly pledging to “invest, invest, invest”. Sir Keir Starmer previously admitted Labour’s first budget in charge will be “painful”, with tax levers pulled to plug a £22 billion gap in public finances.
Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told The Telegraph: “If you borrow a lot you are taking more of a risk that interest rates will be higher in response. One lesson for Rachel Reeves is to be cautious about borrowing because there is a risk to interest rates.
“Some will have savings and will endure higher interest rates on their savings. The main risk you would worry about is people’s mortgages being a bit more expensive.”
A Treasury spokesperson responded: “This analysis is clear that the relationship between fiscal plans, inflation and interest rates is complicated and can change significantly over time. The Chancellor has repeatedly said she will not play fast and loose with the public finances and will protect working people.”
