Ex-police chief to lead efforts to tackle small boats

Former constabulary main Martin Hewitt has been appointed to pb the UK's caller Border Security Command, which volition absorption connected tackling tiny vessel crossings.

As president of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), Mr Hewitt antecedently coordinated enactment by UK constabulary forces connected issues including coercion and organised crime.

He volition articulation Sir Keir Starmer connected a sojourn to Rome connected Monday, wherever the premier curate volition conscionable his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni to larn from her country's attack to tackling amerciable migration.

Italy has precocious seen a melodramatic autumn successful the fig of migrants making the unsafe crossing from northbound Africa.

Reducing the fig of radical crossing the Channel from France successful tiny boats is 1 of the large challenges facing the caller Labour government.

Over the play eight radical died attempting the crossing.

The Border Security Command volition bring unneurotic quality agencies, constabulary and borderline unit officials to tackle the smuggling gangs down tiny vessel crossings.

Mr Hewitt led the NPCC betwixt 2019 and 2023 and antecedently served arsenic an adjunct commissioner successful the Metropolitan Police.

Downing Street said his acquisition coordinating the enactment of police, authorities and different agencies, including responding to large securing threats and managing the UK's effect to the Covid pandemic, was "key to his appointment".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "No much gimmicks. This authorities volition tackle the smuggling gangs who commercialized the lives of men, women and children crossed borders.

"Martin Hewitt’s unsocial expertise volition pb a caller epoch of planetary enforcement to dismantle these networks, support our shores and bring bid to the asylum system."

Mr Hewitt said: "I americium nether nary illusions of the challenges that prevarication ahead, but I americium determined to look them head-on.

“For excessively long, the transgression gangs who smuggle radical done Europe person abused our borders successful the sanction of profit, and they are liable for the deaths of scores of vulnerable, guiltless people."

During their sojourn to Rome, Sir Keir and Mr Hewitt volition circuit Italy's National Coordination Centre for Migration to spot however the state responds to amerciable migration and sermon aboriginal cooperation.

Over the weekend, Sir Keir said helium was "interested" successful Italy's migration woody with Albania, nether which migrants rescued astatine oversea volition beryllium sent to the Balkan state portion their asylum claims are processed.

Asked whether helium would see pursuing a akin agreement, Sir Keir said: "Let's see. It's successful the aboriginal days, I'm funny successful however that works, I deliberation everybody other is."

Reception centres successful Albania are owed to unfastened aboriginal this year, aft immoderate delays.

After winning power, Labour scrapped the erstwhile Conservative government's program to nonstop immoderate asylum seekers to Rwanda from the UK.

Under the Italian agreement, migrants volition inactive beryllium capable to use for asylum successful Italy portion they are successful Albania. If refused, they volition look deportation.

This differs from the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme, wherever asylum seekers would not person been allowed to instrumentality to the UK if their assertion was accepted and would alternatively person been capable to enactment successful Rwanda.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: "Keir Starmer has perfectly nary program to halt the boats, and that’s wherefore he’s present resorting to trying to transcript others."

He said Labour had "scrapped this country’s deterrent to amerciable migration and signalled to the vile radical smuggling gangs they were not consenting to instrumentality the superior enactment needed to halt the boats".

Frontex, the EU’s borderline force, has calculated a 64% driblet this twelvemonth successful those making the crossing from North Africa to Italy.

Central to the autumn successful crossings to Italy are fiscal deals struck with Tunisia and Libya – wherever astir radical depart from for Europe.

The EU has fixed Tunisia backing to boost borderline security, portion Italy has supplied patrol vessels and fixed the authorities wealth to enactment tiny companies and put successful acquisition and renewable energy.

Italian Prime Minister Meloni, who leads a right-wing conjugation successful Italy, was a adjacent state of Sir Keir's Conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak.

Sir Keir's sojourn comes arsenic helium seeks a wider "reset" of relations with Europe aft Brexit, and follows meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.