Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘smash the gangs’ promise is “just to get headlines”, a Kent Councillor has said as he outlines Reform UK’s plans to deal with illegal immigrants in a “safe” way that “doesn’t jeopardise lives”.
Under proposed Government plans, suspected people smugglers could face bans from using laptops and mobile phones, accessing social media networks, or associating with certain individuals.
As part of a raft of new measures announced at the beginning of this year, suspects could also face restrictions on accessing their finances and travel limitations, with the High Court determining how long these would last.
In 2024, almost 37,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats – a figure which is up by a quarter from the year before.
Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘smash the gangs’ policy is ‘just to get headlines’, a Kent Councillor has said
PA/GB News
Thomas Mallon, who is Kent County Council’s first Reform UK councillor, said that in regards to Starmer’s ‘smash the gangs’ pledge, the Prime Minister has “no idea what he’s talking about”.
Speaking to GB News at Reform UK’s South East England conference on Friday, Mallon said: “We’ve been fighting drug gangs since the 80s and it’s not going to go well.
“So I don’t see how he thinks he can go across the border and arrest people in different countries without international arrest warrants. It’s not in our jurisdiction if it’s happening in France. So I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
Mallon, who received 25 per cent of the vote in Swanscombe and Greenhithe in a by-election last November, outlined Reform UK’s proposed policy that will “get the gang problem done”.
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Keir Starmer wants to ‘smash the gangs’ facilitating the large numbers of migrants crossing the ChannelGETTYHe told the People’s Channel: “We’re not saying turn the boats around. We are saying rather than pick people up, put them in Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) boats and bring them to England, why don’t we pick them up, put them in the lifeboats and take them back to France?
“It happened just after the Labour Government got in. There was a boat in distress and they picked them up, but they took them back to France. The French government could not and would not say anything because it’s part of the maritime law.”
On July 17, a small boat with 70 people on board got into trouble in French waters near Calais. Instead of taking the migrants to the UK, Border Force returned the group to France.
It has been reported this was “at the request of local authorities” (the French coastguard). This instance was unique as France typically refuses to allow the return of rescued migrants once they are on UK vessels.
The number of small boat crossings is ramping upPA
Mallon won his position during a by-election in NovemberGB News
Mallon said that Reform UK is proposing to adopt a policy mirroring this instance.
“We’re not proposing the turnaround because that would be unsafe. And we don’t want to put people’s lives in jeopardy. So we pick them up the same way as our own idea and just take them back to France. It’s as simple as that.
“It’s for safety reasons. And then once you do that, maybe for a whole week the gang problem is done because there’s no more viability in the trade then.”
Citing another example of this method being used in Belgium, Mallon said: “So all this rhetoric about smashing the gangs is just to get headlines. It’s a headline grabber.”
Announcing the new measures last week, Starmer said the sanctions are a “really important step” to stopping illegal migration into the UK.
One of the sanctions includes freezing the assets of those “that help to get people into this country illegally”.
He said: “If you’re going to smash a gang that is driven by money, follow the money.”