Staggering 60% drop in people smuggling gangs prosecutions

SIR Keir Starmer has been told migrant smuggling gangs “are laughing at him” after figures showed prosecutions have plunged to a record low.

- By Christian Calgie Senior Political Correspondent

Despite the PM’s repeated pledge to “smash the gangs”, prosecutions of individuals behind small boat Channel crossings have fallen 60% during Labour’s first year in power.

Just 153 faced action for aiding illegal entry into Britain from July 2024 to last month, according to European border and coastguard agency Frontex.

Under Robert Jenrick’s tenure as Tory immigration minister, 471 were prosecuted in 2023 and 424 in 2024. The one year in which charges were lower than Labour’s 12 months was 2020, when Covid delivered a major hit to the legal system.

Meanwhile, only 446 of the 43,309 migrants who came to Britain illegally during Labour’s first year were charged with immigration offences — representing less than 1% of total crossings.

The figures are a massive blow to Sir Keir who for the past two years has promised to take on the people smuggling gangs.