Watch again as Sir Keir Starmer announced Labour’s plan to tackle people smuggling on Monday (4 November) at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow.
The prime minister and home secretary both spoke at the Interpol General Assembly at the start of a week-long blitz on small boat crossings that will also see Sir Keir in Hungary for talks on tackling people smuggling.
The speech in Scotland saw the prime minister pledge a further £75 million for the border command, doubling the total funding to £150 million over the next two years.
The money will be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators who will target criminals engaged in people smuggling.
The prime minister said that “the world needs to wake up to the severity” of the challenge of crossings.
“I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesn’t stop at our borders,” he said.
“There’s nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.”
More than 5,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in October, making it the busiest month of the year so far for crossings.
In addition, more than 430 people arrived over the first two days in November.
