Yvette Cooper to chair summit aimed at destroying small boats by criminal gangs

Yvette Cooper will chair a summit aimed at destroying the criminal gangs that smuggle people across the Channel in small boats.

The Home Secretary will chair a meeting of senior ministers and figures from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and intelligence agencies on Friday.

It comes in response to the deaths of at least 12 people attempting to cross the Channel on Tuesday, in what is being described as the deadliest crossing tragedy of the year so far.

Their boat was ‘torn apart’ and sank off the northern French coast of Cap Gris-Nez. The crossings continued in the following days.

We will not rest until these networks are dismantled and brought to justice

Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Ms Cooper said: “Exploiting vulnerable people is at the heart of the business model of these despicable criminal trafficking gangs.

“Women and children were in an unsafe boat this week that literally crashed into the water.

“At least 12 people have been murdered as part of this evil trade. We will not rest until these networks are dismantled and brought to justice.”

The Home Secretary is joined at the NCA headquarters in London by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Attorney General Lord Hermer, as well as representatives from the NCA, Border Force and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Representatives of the intelligence service will also be present, assisting the NCA in infiltrating and dismantling the smuggling gangs.

Ms Cooper added: “Encouraging progress has been made over the past two months, with significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe.

“But there is work to be done and Border Security Command will bring together all relevant agencies to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, and to deepen our ties with key international partners.

“At the same time, we are swiftly removing those who have no right to stay in the UK, which will ensure we have a fair, robust and functioning asylum system where the rules are respected and enforced.”

The summit will examine an analysis commissioned by the Minister of the Interior that maps the gangs’ capabilities. It will also discuss closer cooperation with European agencies such as Europol and the development of the new Border Security Command.

Speaking to broadcasters on Friday morning, Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle said the head of the new Border Security Command would be announced “very shortly”.

She also ruled out expanding safe and legal routes for asylum seekers into the UK, saying this was ‘not considered’.

Dame Angela told Times Radio: “I think the most important thing is, whether there are safe, legal routes or not in any future development, we cannot allow people smuggling gangs to control who comes into this country.”

The total number of small boat arrivals in 2024 is provisionally expected to be 21,977.

You must have a deterrent

Robert Jenrick

That is 3% higher than last year, when the total was 21,372, but 20% lower than in 2022, when the total was 27,409.

Over the past nine days, from August 27 to September 4, there have been 2,683 arrivals – the highest number in a nine-day period so far this year.

In all of 2023, 29,437 people arrived, a 36% drop from the record 45,774 in 2022.

More than 30 people have already died crossing the Channel this year, compared to 12 people believed to have died or gone missing in 2023, according to the French coast guard.

Former Immigration Minister and current front-runner for the Conservative leadership Robert Jenrick attacked the government over the figures, saying it had “surrendered to the smuggling gangs”.

He criticised the decision to scrap the Rwanda policy, telling Sky News: “Yvette Cooper will be meeting the National Crime Agency and police chiefs today and they will tell her what they told me when I was minister, which is that while it is important that we do that work, it is not enough. You have to have a deterrent.”