“Stop the boats” was Rishi Sunak’s refrain, while “smash the gangs” is Sir Keir Starmer’s – both a central promise of their premierships, both proving more difficult than the three-word slogan suggests.
As the new year begins, it’s the long-standing problem of illegal migration into the UK across the channel that is chipping away at this government, as it did the last.
Today, Number 10 attempted to hold back the criticism after yesterday’s release of the latest stubbornly high numbers, with a new announcement aimed at disrupting the activities of people traffickers.
New interim serious crime prevention orders will give authorities quick access to powers that will prevent smugglers from travelling, stop mobile phone use and shut down bank accounts.
Follow our channel and never miss an update
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp immediately dismissed the plan as “pretty laughable,” despite his own government’s failures on the issue.
His argument was that the Conservative’s strategy of immediately deporting those arriving onto UK shores to Rwanda for processing would have eventually worked as a deterrent.
Read more:
Blair opened UK borders to east European migrants despite misgivings
Private school parents facing higher fees from today as VAT policy kicks in
Constant court battles and Labour’s decision to scrap it as soon as they got into office means we’ll never know.
What we do know is that this is Sir Keir’s year to prove he can deliver on his election promise, or face the disastrous political consequences, as many others before him have.
