Britain can’t stop small boats by shouting at the sea

The best way to strengthen border security is to work with neighbouring countries who face the same challenges

Criminal gangs who profit from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk have been getting away with it for far too long.
The dangerous small boats they organise in the Channel make them hundreds of millions of pounds a year, while lives are lost, smuggler violence has increased, and our collective security is harmed.
Their networks spread not just through France but right across Europe and beyond, from the mountains of Kurdistan to the money markets of Kabul and countries across the globe.
But in the face of cross-border criminal networks, we need new cross-border law enforcement networks, that are determined to disrupt, degrade and destroy them.
Smashing smuggler gangs won’t be done through unworkable gimmicks or quick fixes. It needs a comprehensive plan that marries the best of UK law enforcement with a major upgrade in international co-operation – that is the new approach this Government is taking to boost our border security and save lives.
Today the world’s law enforcement community will gather in Glasgow as the UK hosts the Interpol General Assembly. It brings together the 196 member countries to take decisions and shape the global approach to the most dangerous threats we face. For more than a hundred years, law enforcement agencies across the world have come together to tackle cross-border serious and organised crime. Those principles of co-operation are crucial, whether it be with Interpol, our European neighbours or partners further afield. But we need to apply them far more strongly against people-smuggler and trafficking networks – a whole system approach here and across the world, just as we do with countering terror threats.
After the election, we immediately established Border Security Command to lead the UK efforts. Modelled on the former Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism set up by the last Labour government, it is being led by former police chief Martin Hewitt and will drive cross-government efforts to pursue those making millions out of dangerous small boat crossings.
Now, as we bring this international law enforcement family together, the Prime Minister and I are announcing a £150 million investment in the Border Security Command. Money will be spent on investment in technology, capabilities and specialist officers across agencies delivering border security, hundreds of intelligence officers and investigators for the Border Security Command and further investment in our international networks, like Europol where we have already increased the number of British officers.
It will bring together the work of the Border Force, police forces, intelligence agencies and the National Crime Agency which will be able to expand its investigations into organised immigration crime across the world. This is on top of doubling UK support for Interpol’s global operations and investing a further £24 million next year to tackle international serious organised crimes such as trafficking in drugs and firearms, fraud, and protecting people from exploitation.
And with our nearest neighbours we are developing new plans with Italy to tackle the smugglers’ illicit finance, new plans with Germany to target the supply chains of boats and engines, and new plans with France to pursue the smuggler networks operating along the coast. Because the truth is that international co-operation has never been more critical.
The United Kingdom has first-class capabilities. Our law enforcement and security agencies are filled with outstanding professionals who work day and night to protect us all. But the dangers they are grappling with have become more interlinked. The lines between different forms of criminality are increasingly blurred. People, including those who wish us harm, have never been more connected.
This means the job of stopping criminals and keeping people safe transcends borders in ways that would have been unimaginable when Interpol was first conceived over a century ago. This government’s commitment to pursue much closer security cooperation with international partners is a hard-headed and practical approach that recognises how what happens abroad affects our security here at home.
The best way to strengthen Britain’s border security is to work with neighbouring countries who face the same challenges, not to just stand on the shoreline shouting at the sea. To make us all safer, it’s time to recognise domestic security and global security are two sides of the same coin.