Labour: Stop offering 'gimmicks' to tackle small boats

ODN

The government must stop offering “gimmicks” to properly tackle smuggling gangs and people traffickers, Yvette Cooper has said. This comes amid reports that the Home Office has procured tents to house migrants ahead of an expected surge in small-boat arrivals.  Labour is calling for a new serious and organised crime strategy to replace the current 2018 plan, which the party said was out of date. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00 even the government doesn't believe

00:02 that their new legislation is going to work

00:04 and they're still in the same chaotic situation

00:08 as we were last year.

00:09 What we need is proper action to go after the criminal gangs.

00:13 That's what Labour is calling for

00:14 with a new cross-border unit

00:16 because convictions have fallen

00:18 and also actually to clear the asylum backlog

00:21 because their asylum decision-making has collapsed as well.

00:24 I think Rishi Soon Act strategy isn't working.

00:27 They just keep putting forward gimmicks

00:29 when actually what we need is proper grip.

00:32 We don't know the details of the government's proposals

00:34 and to be honest, they've announced

00:36 lots and lots of different things

00:38 that then haven't materialised

00:40 and it's all been hugely chaotic

00:42 because I think they're still just not getting

00:43 to the heart of the problem.

00:45 That criminal gangs have taken hold

00:47 undermining our border security and putting lives at risk

00:50 and yet convictions for people smuggling have plummeted.

00:53 We've got to have proper action against those gangs

00:56 and there's got to be action to clear the asylum backlog

00:59 to end hotel use so that you have proper

01:01 asylum accommodation without needing

01:04 all of the additional hotels

01:06 and all the problems that that has caused.

Transcript

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