During the time that the Prime Minister is travelling to Italy to learn about the country’s immigration policy, Martin Hewitt was appointed to handle minor boat crossings.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has stated that the selection of a former police chief to lead the new border security command demonstrates that authorities are making genuine measures to curb illegal Channel crossings. This is in contrast to the “gimmicks” that the previous administration employed.
Cooper stated that such international cooperation was the only way to make progress, particularly in light of the fact that Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, were scheduled to meet in Rome to discuss migration. However, Cooper declined to speculate on when the rate of arrivals may slow down again.
Cooper responded to criticism from rights groups and some Labour MPs by stating that it was extremely normal for the United Kingdom to collaborate with governments that have different political leanings. This criticism was in response to the government’s attempt to distance itself from Meloni’s radical administration.
During the Covid epidemic, Martin Hewitt, who had previously served as the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and was responsible for overseeing the implementation of lockdown rules in the United Kingdom, was appointed to the position of commander of the border security command the previous evening.
Cooper compared this to the Rwanda plan that the previous administration implemented in an interview, saying that the appointment was proof of the serious approach that Labour was taking.
Cooper made his remarks a day after eight individuals lost their lives while attempting to cross the Channel on a small boat in the early hours of Sunday morning. “We’ve got to take practical steps,” Cooper said.
According to her argument, “We are aware that all of this has been driven by what has evolved into a criminal industry that is effectively operating along our borders.”
Every step of the way that the boats are being brought in, every step of the way that the engines are being put together, and every step of the way that the criminal gangs work have not been coordinated. “There has not been serious, coordinated law enforcement that involves countries all across Europe.” That is something that has never been done before.”
When asked how quickly people would see a drop in the number of small boat crossings, Cooper responded by saying that the goal was to “go as fast as we possibly can, because nobody should be making these dangerous boat crossings.”
She stated, “We are not going to accomplish this through reports in the media.” We will achieve our goal by putting in a lot of effort. The use of gimmicks is not going to be the only method we employ.
On Monday, the Prime Minister will travel to Rome in order to investigate the manner in which Meloni’s administration has reduced the number of individuals who have arrived in small boats across the Mediterranean by about two-thirds over the course of the previous year, from 118,000 to 44,500.
Meloni has been concentrating on negotiating financial agreements with nations in north Africa, such as Tunisia and Libya, in order to strengthen border security and effectively prevent boats from departing in the first place.
The following autumn, she will take things a step further by establishing a holding centre in Albania. This site would be used to house asylum seekers who have been picked up at sea by Italian rescue ships while their applications for asylum are being processed.
A backbencher questioned why a Labour administration would be “seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government.” The Refugee Council and Amnesty International have both issued a plea to Starmer, urging him to refrain from engaging in any further “gimmicks.”
Cooper responded to a question about this by saying, “We’ve always had a history of working with governments that have different political parties that are not aligned.” It is a reasonable action for any government to take in the situation.
“It is imperative that we collaborate with governments that have been democratically elected, particularly those that are geographically closest to us, and especially those in which we face challenges that are common to both organisations.”