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03-01-2025
LONDON: Suspected people smugglers will face severe curbs under new laws in Britain, the government said on Thursday, as it steps up efforts to fight illegal migration and strengthen border security.
Those suspected will face travel bans, social media blackouts and restrictions on phone usage to help the government “dismantle organized immigration crime networks,” the statement added.
“We will give law enforcement stronger powers they need to pursue and stop more of these vile gang networks,” interior minister Yvette Cooper said, describing border security as one of the foundations of the government’s recently laid out ‘plan for change’.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected to office in July, has prioritized tackling illegal migration by cracking down on the gangs who smuggle people across the English Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, into Britain from France.
Over 36,800 people made the dangerous crossings to arrive in Britain in 2024, a 25% year-on-year surge, according to government data. Several dozen have died attempting to do so, with the Refugee Council charity terming it the deadliest year on record for such crossings. The planned interim serious crime prevention orders (SCPO) will allow immediate action to disrupt and deter suspected serious criminality, including organized immigration crime, the statement said.
The fresh powers are designed to mirror those already used to disrupt other offences such as knife crime, slavery and trafficking. Currently, securing an SCPO on suspects can be a complex and lengthy process. The interim orders will speed up the process.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged on Thursday to deliver on his priorities to rebuild Britain by offering voters targets for improved living standards and more home building in a speech he hopes will draw a line under a bumpy start to government. Five months since his Labour Party won a landslide election victory, Starmer set out firm targets, something he hopes will allow 
voters to measure his government’s success in meeting his so-called missions before Britain’s next vote due in 2029. His officials deny the “plan for change” is a reset of his new government, but rather a way to make his goals more concrete and understandable to voters more distrustful of politics after years of chaos under the former Conservative administration and Labor’s missteps in its first months in power but it is risky, with his and his party’s popularity plunging and the opposition Conservative Party and the right-wing populist Reform Party ready to pounce if his government fails to achieve his goals, particularly on immigration.
Launching his plans at a film studio not far from the capital London, Starmer said: “(This) is my plan for change. The driving purpose of this government and we will stay the course.”
His announcement of six pledges, on living standards and the economy, building more homes, the health service, crime, education and clean energy, were ridiculed by the Conservative Party as a sign of desperation.
“The latest Labor reset … is another sign that the wheels are off and are bouncing down the street,” Conservative Alex Burghart said in a statement.
Labor campaigned before its July 4 election win on five missions boosting economic growth, accelerating steps towards reaching net zero, reducing waiting times in the state-run health service, tackling crime and improving education.
He then set out six “first steps to change”, prioritizing economic stability, cutting waiting times in the health service, controlling Britain’s borders, setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on antisocial behavior and teacher recruitment. (Int’l News Desk)
