New criminal offences to disrupt migrant smugglings set out in border bill
It comes as part of a raft of new offences and counter-terror powers aimed at helping to stop the smuggling of migrants across the Channel.
Last updated 30th Jan 2025
People selling and handling boat parts suspected of being used in migrant Channel crossings could face up to 14 years in prison under new laws trying to crack down on people smugglers.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also outlined plans to make endangering another life during a sea crossing to the UK a new offence carrying a five-year jail term under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill introduced to Parliament on Thursday.
Home Office sources said in the last few months there have been instances of "floating crime scenes" where people have acted in such a reckless way people died on board in crushes and drownings.
It comes as part of a raft of new offences and counter-terror powers aimed at helping to stop the smuggling of migrants across the Channel.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously vowed to treat people smugglers as "terrorists" in a bid to curb Channel crossings.
The Government is expected to seek to bring the measures into force as soon as possible once the legislation is approved by MPs and Lords.
It comes as official figures show net migration has soared since the UK left the EU in January 2020, reaching a record high of 903,000 in the year to June 2023 before falling back slightly to 728,000 in the following year.
Although Dame Priti, who served as home secretary between 2019 and 2022, said she was "not fine" with the levels of immigration in the past three years, she declined to apologise for the figures and said the previous government had "made it quite clear it would be people from the rest of the world, people with skills" coming into the UK after Brexit.
Her comments drew criticism from Labour, with a party spokesperson saying the Conservatives were "out of touch with reality", adding Dame Priti "seems proud of her central role in the Tory open-border experiment".
But later today, a spokesman for Kemi Badenoch appeared to rebuke Dame Priti, saying the Conservative Party under her leadership "will tell the truth about the mistakes we made".
The spokesman said: "While the last Conservative government may have tried to control numbers, we did not deliver."
Dame Priti subsequently clarified her comments, saying the UK's immigration system was "not fit for purpose" and she was "not happy about the high numbers while the Conservatives were in government".
She added: "Our party is now under new leadership and it is important we learn from our mistakes and how we can do things better.
"As a former home secretary, I have seen no interest whatsoever from any other political parties in understanding our system or learning these lessons.
"I'm pleased the Leader of the Opposition and shadow home secretary have said they will develop a new plan on how to control immigration, including a hard cap on visas.
"This is what is needed. More words will not solve the problem."
In November, Mrs Badenoch committed to introducing a hard cap on visas if the Conservatives returned to power.
Her spokesman added: "We are now developing a detailed plan on immigration to put before the British public before the next election, so voters have a clear choice: Labour, who will keep immigration far too high, or a new plan and a hard cap on numbers with Kemi's Conservatives."