Yvette Cooper takes on immigration incidents

Yvette Cooper has launched a massive immigration campaign as more asylum seekers cross the Channel in small boats.

Businesses employing illegal immigrants could face closure under the new approach, which aims to deliver on Keir Starmer’s election promise to “destroy” the criminal gangs smuggling people from France to the UK.

Under measures announced today, 100 specialist intelligence officers and detectives will be recruited to the National Crime Agency this year to tackle people-smuggling gangs.

A new “intelligence-driven” program targets employers who profit from hiring illegal workers. Those caught risk fines, prosecution or “closure orders.”

The number of detention places for immigrants will also be expanded, as the government wants to speed up the deportation of people whose asylum applications have been rejected.

Cooper announced the measures as the government faces mounting pressure to ban small boats from crossing the Channel.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, more than 800 asylum seekers have made the perilous journey in the past week alone.

The Home Secretary said: “We are taking strong and clear steps to improve our border security and ensure the rules are followed and enforced.

“Our new Border Security Command is already in full swing, with urgent recruitment underway and additional staff already deployed across Europe.

“They will work with European enforcement agencies to find every possible way to defeat the criminal smuggling gangs who organise dangerous boat journeys that undermine our border security and put lives at risk.

“And by increasing enforcement capacity and revenues, we will create a system that is better monitored and managed, instead of the chaos that has plagued the system for far too long.”

One of the first acts of the new government after the general election of 5 July was to scrap the Conservative Rwanda plan, which had been intended to deport anyone crossing the Channel to East Africa.

Despite the policy being announced in 2022, no flights ever took off.

Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has pledged to reinstate the Rwanda plan as party policy if he wins the race to succeed Rishi Sunak.

A Labour source said: “In border control and the asylum system, as in every other area of ​​government, there has been massive incompetence and massive waste of taxpayers’ money by the Tories, leaving the new Home Secretary with a huge mess to clean up.

“We know there are no quick fixes to these complex challenges. But we are already taking the swift and decisive action needed to strengthen our border security, tackle smuggling rings and get our asylum system under control.”