Keir Starmer defends migrant plan after summit with intelligence chiefs

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is "absolutely convinced" that disrupting criminal gangs bringing people across the English Channel in small boats is the way to tackle the migrant crisis.

The Prime Minister has faced fury and ridicule for scrapping the only deterrent to migrants looking to cross - the Rwanda deportation scheme.

But speaking after a summit on small boats chaired by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Sir Keir defended the Government's new approach.

The summit comes at the end of a week that saw at least 12 people die after their boat was "ripped apart" off the northern French coast while they attempted to cross the Channel.

Sir Keir told the BBC the priority "has to be on taking down the gangs that are exploiting vulnerable people, including children", following the summit.

He added: "I'm absolutely convinced that we can do the hard job of taking down these gangs who are exploiting people by putting them in boats to go across the Channel. We're elected as a Government of change. We're beginning that work already."

Sir Keir also suggested the Government had made progress since it "refocused attention" after scrapping the Rwanda scheme, adding: "We're bearing down on this operational summit. That's the right thing to do. But we did inherit a broken system, and that's why the numbers are currently so high."

Intelligence officers are said to be working undercover at every level of the smuggling gangs.

This is to identify the key kingpins, their facilitators and how they hide their money.

The Daily Express understands the UK wants to deploy more specialists in Iraq to hunt the smugglers in their home country.

Germany has hit back at claims it could adopt a UK-style Rwanda deportation plan.

Berlin suggested the country could adopt accommodation in Rwanda originally planned for the UK's now-scrapped scheme, with the aim of deporting unauthorised migrants to the east African country.

Germany's ambassador to the UK pushed back against the claims, though he said the country is looking at a UN-backed scheme to process asylum applications in a third country, similar to what Britain planned in Rwanda.

Asked by the BBC if he was wrong to end the Tory policy in light of the reports, the Prime Minister said: "No, it was a gimmick. It cost us £700 million to persuade four volunteers to go to Rwanda.

"We're going to use that money on operational matters."

Speaking at a summit aimed at tackling the small boats crisis, Sir Keir added: "And I think the Germans have already cleared up that they're not using the Rwanda plan, and that's because they've concluded - like we have - that it won't work.

"We're going to concentrate on what works. That means taking down the gangs that are running this trade."

Ms Cooper had earlier told broadcasters the purpose of the meeting was to ensure people smugglers will "not be able to get away with" putting lives at risk.

The Home Secretary said crossings were down in July and August compared to previous years, but lives were still being lost and smuggling gangs were still operating along the French coast.

She stressed that the new Government was hiring more investigators for the National Crime Agency (NCA) and working closely with other European nations to address the issue.

Senior ministers including Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Attorney General Lord Hermer also attended Friday's summit at the NCA headquarters in London, alongside representatives from the NCA, Border Force and the intelligence community.

An analysis commissioned by the Home Secretary which dives into the gangs' capability examined at the summit, which also considered closer collaboration with European agencies such as Europol, and advancing the new Border Security Command.

Speaking before the summit, Ms Cooper said: "The last two months has seen encouraging progress, with significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe.

"But there is work to do, and the Border Security Command will bring all the relevant bodies together to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, as well as deepen our ties with key international partners.

"At the same time, we are swiftly removing those with no right to be in the UK, which will ensure we have a fair, firm and functioning asylum system where the rules are respected and enforced."

She also told broadcasters that the Government was making progress on clearing the asylum backlog and returning those with no right to be in the UK "so that we can end these very costly asylum hotels".

Earlier on Friday, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick accused Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Cooper of having "surrendered to the smuggling gangs" after scrapping the Conservatives' Rwanda policy.

Mr Jenrick, the current frontrunner for the Tory leadership, said: "Yvette Cooper will meet the National Crime Agency and police chiefs today, and they'll tell her what they told me when I was the minister, which is that although it's important that we do that work, it is not sufficient.

"You have to have a deterrent."