The Secretary of State for the Home Department ():...It is vital that we
dismantle the international crime gangs behind this phenomenon.
Co-operation with the French has stopped more than 29,000 illegal
crossings since the start of the year—twice as many as last year—
and destroyed over 1,000 boats. Our UK-France joint intelligence
cell has dismantled 55 organised crime groups since it was
established in 2020. The National Crime
Agency is at the forefront of this fight. Indeed,
NCA officers recently joined what is believed to
be the biggest ever international operation targeting smuggling
networks...
(Normanton, Pontefract and
Castleford) (Lab):...There has also been a total failure to
prevent a huge proliferation of gangs in the channel. Why has the
Home Secretary refused our calls for a major new National Crime
Agency unit with hundreds of additional specialist
officers to work with Europol and others to crack down on the
gangs, as well as the urgent work needed with France to get a
proper agreement in place?
: I will pick up on
some of the right hon. Lady’s points, but I will not comment on
any details relating to the case in question or to the individual
under consideration. There has been clear work afoot with
the National Crime
Agency and all partners to try to tackle the
problem of illegal migration. I am very encouraged by the
relationship that we have built with the French, and I am
grateful to the French authorities for their real commitment to,
and work on, tackling this problem...
Dame (Llanelli) (Lab): In contrast to Labour’s
commitment to employ 100 extra specialist National Crime
Agency officers to tackle the criminal gangs
upstream, the Home Secretary’s predecessor, the right hon. Member
for Witham (), asked the
NCA to draw up plans for a 40% reduction in
staff. Will this Home Secretary explain her plans for staffing
and how she intends to improve collaboration with the French on
that problem?
: Working
collaboratively with the French is a key component in solving
this problem. The simple truth is that we cannot do this alone.
That is why I am very pleased that we have a relationship with
the French and I am very keen to amplify that. That will involve
greater surveillance between the French and British authorities;
greater intelligence co-operation and interception upstream
between the French and the British authorities; and joint working
at all points in the system. That co-operation is vital...
(Devizes) (Con): My
question is: will the Home Secretary assure the House that she
will not be deflected from her strategy of deterring the illegal
migration that we are seeing?
: What a great
question from my hon. Friend, and he is absolutely right. What is
more, we are identifying, particularly with the young, single men
who are coming from Albania, that they are either part of
organised criminal gangs and procuring their journey through
those nefarious means, or they are coming here and partaking in
criminal activity, particularly related to drugs—supply and
otherwise. In fact, a few weeks ago I attended a raid with
members of the National Crime
Agency where they arrested a suspected Albanian
people smuggler in Banbury. This is a criminal problem. There are
many people coming here with criminal intent and behaving in a
criminal way. We need to stop it...
To read all the exchanges, CLICK HERE
