Natalie Elphicke: Starmer plans to rip up Rwanda scheme as more Tory MPs ‘ponder defecting’ to Labour – live

He says: “So it’s not hard to see why the Prime Minister might want a path to deterrence, without the hard graft – the boring graft perhaps -of fixing the wider system.

“But I’m afraid, like so much of what he says these days, it’s magical thinking, a symbol of an unquenchable Tory desire for the short-cut.

“The easy-fix, the sticking plaster, gimmicks not serious government.”

Sir Keir Starmer says shores will become hostile territory for people smugglers.

He slams: “We will find you, we will stop you, we will protect your victims, and with Border Security Command, we will secure Britain’s borders.”

Starmer says: “That means new powers that, as with would-be terrorists, can be used pre conviction with High Court approval and that can limit the ability of the gangs to conduct their vile business – before arrest.

“Powers that will allow us to shut off internet access, close their bank accounts, trace their movements – using information provided by the intelligence services.

“Or powers like stop and search at the border. Or raiding and seizing evidence – before an offence has taken place.”

Sir Keir Starmer says: “We can co-operate across borders, that’s not some kind of weakness, it’s absolutely essential. These criminals do not respect national boundaries.

“When I was at the Crown Prosecution Service we had prosecutors posted in Pakistan working on counter-terrorism operations. In the Caribbeanon smuggling.

“In West Africa, disrupting the flow of drugs coming from South America on their way to Europe and ultimately to Britain.”

Starmer will hire front-line defence to tackle people smuggling.

• Border Security Command will bring together hundreds of specialist investigators. The best of the best.
• Workforce will include the National Crime Agency, the Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, The Crown Prosecution Service, and MI5.

He says: “Britain can do better. Labour will do better. We will end this farce.

“We will restore serious government to our borders, tackle this problem, at source, and replace the Rwanda policy permanently.”

Sir Keir Starmer says: “But the question this record must raise is whether the latest gimmick, the Prime Minister’s Rwanda scheme, can really be taken as a serious solution to this important challenge? I don’t think so.

“They will get flights off the ground – I don’t doubt that. But I also don’t doubt – that this will not work.

“A policy that will see just a few hundred people a year removed to Rwanda, less than one per cent of the people who cross the sea in small boats every year, less than one per cent – for six hundred million pounds… that is neither an effective deterrent or a good use of your money.”

He says: “Over 8,000 people have made the perilous journey across the Channel in small boats this year. On track to surpass the record set in 2022.”

Sir Keir Starmer adds: “This problem must be tackled.

“These gangs must be stopped, our asylum system must be rebuilt, our borders must be secured.”

He said: “The children dying in our waters. Just three weeks ago – a seven year old girl… That all remains.

“So no matter how good anyone thinks their intentions are, turning a blind-eye to this business, not understanding how important a rules-based asylum system is for tackling that exploitation, for removing the criminal business-model if you like – that is not a progressive and compassionate position, it is the complete opposite of a progressive and compassionate position.”