Boris Johnson launches savage attack on Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper over Channel deaths

Boris Johnson has warned Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper they "will be to blame for the drowning of kids at sea" after scrapping the Rwanda scheme.

The former Prime Minister joined the growing number of critics furious over the decision to axe the deportation scheme designed to prevent people climbing into dinghies bound for Britain.

At least 12 people died after their boat “ripped apart” off the coast of Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday, with the boat said to have been adapted and made even more fragile. This year is set to be the deadliest on record, with 37 perishing during a crossing this year.

Mr Johnson, whose Government first kindled the Rwanda plan, said in a video on X, formerly Twitter: "With 12 more people dying in the Channel this week including six children, one pregnant mother, and with the Germans themselves now expressing an interest in the Rwanda policy, it is time for Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper to admit that if you scrap a policy designed to save lives and you put nothing in its place, then you will be to blame for the drowning of kids at sea."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed there has been “encouraging progress, significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe”.

But critics have branded Labour’s approach to the small boats crisis a “complete farce” and warned tens of thousands of migrants will arrive over the coming years.

Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick said that without the deterrent of Rwanda, it is “open season” for the smugglers, adding that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have “surrendered” to the gangs.

Reform UK Mr Farage told the Daily Express: “This government's promise to smash the gangs that organise these crossings will never, in my opinion, work.

“The truth is, they don't have any realistic plan at all.

“If a gang smuggling migrants across the English Channel can make up to €2 million a week, it doesn't matter how severe the penalties are.

“There will always be someone to fill the place of those who have been arrested.

“In the case of Labour, the promise for a new Border control boss with extended powers has not yet resulted in anybody being appointed.

“It gives the impression the Labour government doesn't care about illegal immigration and simply hopes that the problem will go away. Well, it won't. And in fact, it is only set to get worse.”

And the Home Office is yet to appoint the new head of its Border Security Command – the central element of the Government’s plan to hunt the smuggling gangs.

Ms Cooper said Channel crossings in July and August were lower than last year.

Speaking before a summit with intelligence chiefs, the National Crime Agency and Immigration Enforcement officers, the Home Secretary 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".

Ms Cooper added: "We have this dangerous situation. The criminal gangs are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.

"In the first half of the year, the number of crossings that we inherited from the previous government were at a record high for spring crossings.

"The numbers for July and August have been lower than in previous years, but we have also seen lives being lost and we still see these criminal gangs operating along the north French coast.

"Those gangs should not be able to get away with it and that's why we are determined to go after them."

And Sir Keir insisted it was right the Government had scrapped the Rwanda scheme, amid reports Germany could adopt a similar plan.

Asked if he was right to end the Tory policy in light of the reports, the Prime Minister told the BBC: "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.

"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."

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.

The Home Office said Britain’s intelligence agencies are “deploying formidable covert capability to support the NCA to penetrate and dismantle the gangs at every level of operation – from facilitators to financiers.”

Ms Cooper, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the National Crime Agency and intelligence chiefs are understood to have discussed a review into the smuggling gangs’ capabilities and operations.

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar highlighted how improved relations with Bulgaria had led to the seizure of 40 small boats.

He also detailed how police in Libya are hunting smuggling gangs trafficking people into Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick insisted the UK must leave the European Convention of Human Rights to gain control of the crisis.

He said: "I don’t come at this from an ideological perspective, I come at it from a practical one.

“Winston Churchill, who created that, will be aghast at what it’s become today, because we have foreign nation offenders like murderers and rapists and paedophiles we can’t remove because of that human rights architecture.

"We’ve got terror suspects on our streets, who we can’t survey properly or remove because of it.

"Not able to properly secure our border, in an age where there are millions of people looking to come to developed economies like ours.”

“Without [Rwanda] it’s open season, and that is what’s happening now. Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have surrendered to the people smuggling gangs and are breaking the first duty of government which is to keep our borders secure and the public safe.”

Sir Keir is facing fresh ridicule over his "foolish" decision to scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme as Germany is now set to use the facilities paid for by British taxpayers.

Joachim Stamp, Germany's Special Representative for Migration Agreements, said Berlin could exploit the framework established by the UK and Rwandan Governments to deal with asylum seekers crossing into Europe from Belarus.

This would mean Berlin is effectively using the facilities paid for by British taxpayers.

Sir Keir scrapped the deterrent on his first day in office, branding it a “gimmick”.

Mr Stamp said the EU could utilise the asylum facilities in Rwanda – set up under the deal to deport thousands of Channel migrants to Kigali – to remove thousands who have crossed over from Belarus.

Under Mr Stamp's proposal, the asylum procedures in Rwanda would be conducted under the supervision of the United Nations.

He said: “We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda.

Stamp, a member of the junior coalition FDP party and whose position sits in Germany's Interior Ministry, said this model would specifically target refugees crossing the EU's eastern borders.

"My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group. It's about 10,000 people a year."