Counter-terror powers will ‘make the difference’ to border security – Labour MP

Additional counter-terror powers for border security enforcement will “make the difference” in the number of attempted Channel crossings, a Labour MP has said.

Mike Tapp, MP for Dover and Deal, said the Government’s proposed Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will allow “disruptive techniques” to tackle people smuggling but there is “no quick fix”.

Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer wanted the numbers crossing the Channel to come down in 2025.

French authorities confirmed three people died in the Channel on Sunday morning following an incident off the coast at Sangatte, near Calais, in which 45 people were rescued after struggling to board a small boat bound for the UK.

They are the first deaths in the Channel since October and take the total number of people who have died attempting the crossing this year to at least 53.

The incident follows five days of crossings that saw a total of 1,776 people make the journey – the busiest Christmas period since records began in 2018.

Mr Tapp said deaths in the Channel are “a tragedy every time it happens”.

“Unfortunately, it happens far too often, and it’s something that we’ve heard many times in Dover,” he said.

“On the crossings in general, the problem we’ve got is the inheritance of open borders. So, in 2018 400 crossed, and since then over 150,000 have.

“When we ran the election and when we were elected into Government, we made it really clear that it’s a complex issue that isn’t fixed overnight, which is why it’s gone from 400 to 150,000 in such a quick period, because the incompetence of the last government left us with open borders.”

As outlined in the King’s Speech, the Government will introduce the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill that aims to “modernise the asylum and immigration system” by creating new powers for law enforcement agencies to tackle, investigate and prosecute organised immigration crime.

Mr Tapp said: “There is no quick fix that stops this. So that’s why there’s been so much work going on behind the scenes.”

He added: “But that’s already started, and we’ll see results of that as time goes on, but also next year, 2025, we will see the new Borders, Immigration and Asylum Act coming, which is likely to include extra powers, sort of counter terror-style powers for the Border Security Command to use.”

The MP said the counter-terror initiatives will be “part of what makes the difference” in the number of attempted crossings.

“It will be a part of what makes a difference, definitely, because I’ve seen the difference,” he said.

“And the disruptive techniques that can be used from those powers makes it difficult for terrorists to act, and therefore it will have the same impact on criminals.”

Labour MP for Bassetlaw Jo White said a requirement for ID cards to get a job or use the NHS would act as a “deterrent” for migration.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “An ID card is something that you can share, for example, with your National Insurance number, we all have it from the moment we’re born, or if we’re legally entitled to work here, and that’s the way we access services.

“And I think potentially that may be a way of deterring more people coming across. But I think I also believe more has to be done across across Europe and in countries like Iraq, where most of the gangs are based.”

Mr Tapp said: “ID cards is something in general I support, but it is the cost of that sort of initiative that probably holds us back, particularly in an economic picture we’ve got at the moment.”

Ms White also discussed the Red Wall Caucus, an initiative formed by Labour MPs in the North and Midlands to improve “messaging” and to fight the rise of Reform UK in those constituencies.

She said: “There’s a whole group of us who are in seats that haven’t served in Government since perhaps 2010, who reflect populations where industry has slowly declined over many years, such as the mines or the steel industries. and so the populations change.”

She added: “The decline in the trade unions in those areas means that people don’t leave the factory gates or the pitheads with a message to go and vote Labour, so the connection for Labour has gone, so therefore we need to build up that connection and that trust with our constituents.”

Mr Tapp said the Government needs to deliver on improvements to living standards, but that his party is making progress on reducing immigration.

“In places like Dover, you’re getting cost of living, NHS, policing on the doors. But of course, immigration is an issue, but it’s only one of many things that people vote on,” he said.

“But I’m convinced that we can and will make a difference on this issue and bring the numbers down and fix the system.

“And we’ve also had 13,500 deportations in six months. That’s 25% higher than what we saw under the Conservatives and the four largest flights off the ground on record. So that means the system is starting to work.”

Figures published on Monday show 291 people crossed the Channel on Sunday.

Some 36,816 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year, up 24% on 2023 but down 20% on the record year of 2022.

Downing Street said it was a “tragedy” that “more lives have been lost in the Channel over the Christmas period because these ruthless criminals are continuing to overload people onto unseaworthy vessels”.

The spokesman said the Government’s “practical, pragmatic, systematic approach” to tackling the gangs was “starting to bear fruit”.

“The Prime Minister has always said he’s not going to set arbitrary targets on this, but our aim is, of course, to get those crossing numbers down as soon as possible and we will stop at nothing in 2025 to dismantle the business models of the people-smuggling gangs and bring them to justice.”