The government will divert tens of millions of pounds from Rwanda’s scheme to create a new Border Security Command (BSC) as it announces its plans to combat illegal migration.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also announced an audit of the money sent to Kigali as the Work the administration is looking to find ways to save or recoup money committed under the Conservatives.
Ms Cooper plans to raise the issue of illegal migration with her European colleagues at the European Political Community Summit on 18 July.
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Before the general election, Sir Keir Starmer said his party wanted to send around £75 million a year to its new border scheme, from the dismantled Rwanda deportation program.
The prime minister described Conservative-era plans to send asylum seekers to Africa as “dead and buried” earlier this weekend.
However, it is understood that the Labor Party has not contacted Kigali to discuss the way forward, as the previous UK government pledged hundreds of millions of pounds for migrants to be sent to Rwanda.
One estimate put the total cost of the Rwanda scheme at around half a billion pounds until April 2027.
The Labor government has also abandoned the Conservative “stop the boats” approach to tackling illegal arrivals. Instead, they pledged to “crush” the criminal gangs behind the crossings.
Speaking to broadcasters this afternoon, Ms. Cooper repeatedly refused to use the phrase “stop the boats,” or to make a promise to do so.
Asked when the number of crossings will decrease, the new Home Secretary said the government “wants to progress as quickly as possible” – but inherited a “problem” from the Conservatives, as crossings increased in the first half of 2024.
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According to the government, the BSC will be responsible for the security services, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force, to provide “strategic direction”.
When Labor announced these plans in opposition, the then Conservative government said it was unclear how the BSC would differ from the current commander of the Channel threat.
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Ms Cooper said on Sunday: “The Prime Minister has obviously set out the position on the Rwanda scheme, where, as we know, the Conservatives ran this scheme for two and a half years and sent just four volunteers as well as hundreds of millions of pounds.
“I will be auditing all the details around the money, legislation and processes, and will present further details to parliament.
“But the first step in our approach to all of these issues is to ensure that we are investing the money in strengthening our border security, and that is why we are today launching the Border Security Command process to ensure that we can get a new commander and a new cross-border police in order to strengthen border security.
“That’s my main priority as the new Home Secretary: strengthening the security of the British border, where I think we have been let down for far too long.”
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
