Starmer instructed UK wants deterrent to cease small boats disaster by new border chief

Keir Starmer has been told by his new border chief that he needs a deterrent to stop illegal migration on top of plans to “smash the gangs”.

The Prime Minister insists that he can tackle the small boats crisis by wiping out organising smuggling networks trafficking people to Britain. But new Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt is understood to have warned that deterrents are “always going to be part of the overall picture”.

It comes after the National Crime Agency warned in an internal memo last year that the small boats crisis could not be ended without a proper removal and deterrence scheme. Mr Starmer told reporters in Rome that his plan to smash the gangs and swiftly process asylum claims was enough of a deterrent to curb Channel crossings.

Asked what his deterrent was, he said: “Our deterrent operates on a number of levels. Firstly is breaking the gangs in the first place, because if you can take the gang down, the model doesn’t work. People can’t make the journey, and nobody is going to spend money on a journey which isn’t going to come to fruition because the gangs have been taken down.

“The second part is processing claims and removing people very quickly, which is why I was keen to point out the numbers of people we’ve removed since we’ve been in office, 3,000 or so – the single biggest flight. The last Government went on and on and on about getting flights in the air.

“The only Government that’s got flights in the air is this Government, with the single biggest flight of people returning to the country they came from. So the deterrent is you’re not going to make the journey successfully in the first place. If you do, you’re going to be processed and returned if you have no right to be here.”

Mr Starmer also rejected former PM Tony Blair ’s calls to introduce mandatory digital ID cards to deter migrants from coming to Britain illegally. He said: “We’re not looking at plans for ID cards but the point about labour market enforcement is really important.

“We need more labour market enforcement because too many people are working unlawfully within our system and we need to be much stricter on that.”