Keir Starmer launches illegal migration crackdown to woo Tory voters

The Labour leader will outline plans to ‘smash’ criminal gangs which smuggle people to the UK and ‘bring order to the border’

Sir Keir Starmer will this week launch a bid to paint Labour as the party to get illegal immigration under control.

The Labour leader will outline plans to “smash” criminal gangs which smuggle people to the UK and “bring order to the border”, it has been reported.

Sir Keir is heading to The Hague on Wednesday for a meeting with officials from EU law agency Europol to discuss how a Labour government would tackle smuggling gangs.

On Friday, he will travel to a conference of centre-left leaders in Montreal to make the case for them to not let right-wing parties dominate the subject of immigration.

His aim is to send a warning shot to the Conservatives that, as Rishi Sunak’s plan to “stop the boats” flounders, Labour is ready to tackle illegal immigration.

A Labour source told The Sunday Times: “If you want to solve the problem, the thing to do is smash the gangs. Instead, the government focuses on all these noisy issues. It’s constant gimmicks.”

Another party figure said: “In the election, we think this is an argument we can win. We have never seen immigration as a distraction. It’s a real issue that voters are rightfully concerned about. We have never subscribed to this notion that it’s not progressive to want strong borders.

“Keir is going to use his experience as the former top prosecutor in the country to destroy these gangs. We are going to use every tool in the box. Last year, the government only prosecuted half the number of people smugglers than when Keir was director of public prosecutions.”

His plans come after Mr Sunak used the G20 summit in India to attract European support for Rwanda-style deportation policies to tackle illegal migration.

The PM met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni at the summit, highlighting their shared view “that this is an important topic that needs us to work together”.

But the meeting came just days after Labour accused the PM of having “completely failed in his pledge to stop the boats”, as figures showed 2,188 people have crossed the channel in small boats in the first week of September.

According to The Sunday Times, Sir Keir is expected to use his visit to Europol to outline plans to:

• Set up a specialist cross-border cell in the National Crime Agency (NCA) paid for by scrapping the “unworkable” Rwanda deportation scheme
• Send elite officers to hotspots abroad to disrupt the supply chain of people smugglers
• Fund more caseworkers to clear the hugely costly backlog of asylum claims

He is expected to rely on his experience as Britain’s top prosecutor to highlight government failings on illegal immigration.