During a debate on border security in the House of Commons, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that people smuggling gangs “have been allowed to take hold.” She accused the former Conservative government of prioritizing “failed gimmicks” instead of strengthening border enforcement, causing the UK to lag behind European countries. The debate was focused on the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill proposed by the Labour party, which aims to tackle people smugglers by treating them like terrorists and providing more authority to police and border enforcement teams. This deviates from the previous government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. The bill will also create a new offense of endangering another during an illegal crossing in the Channel and give immigration enforcement teams the power to seize mobile phones.
The proposed law would allow officials to penalize people for legal acts linked to illegal migration. It would also repeal most of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which laid the groundwork for the Tory Rwanda policy. Labour’s plan, a Border Security Command, will have greater authority and leadership, overseeing closer ties between national intelligence, police, and border agents.
Cooper framed the bill as a step to bolstering the UK’s immigration and asylum system’s credibility. She expressed concern that the smuggling gangs had a firm hold on the UK, and it would take some time to dismantle their networks. However, she warned that there is no alternative but to go after the networks and work with international partners against organized crime.
The proposed Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill received criticism from shadow home secretary Chris Philp, who referred to it as a “border surrender Bill.” Philp argued that the bill’s new provisions would enable illegal migrants to gain citizenship, canceling the obligation to remove illegal migrants. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart stated that the UK’s current system is not working, and both Labour’s and the Tory party bill failed to provide an effective immigration and asylum framework
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