POLL OF THE DAY: Is Labour's immigration strategy any better than Rishi Sunak's? YOUR VERDICT
POLL OF THE DAY: Is Labour's immigration strategy any better than Rishi Sunak's? YOUR VERDICT
GETTY
Sir Keir Starmer will today set out Labour's plans to tackle illegal immigration - but is it any better than Rishi Sunak's plan? Vote in our poll below.
Labour will use new counter-terrorism powers to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel in small boats.
Starmer will vow to “replace gimmicks with graft”, scrapping the Government’s Rwanda scheme and using some of the money saved to fund a new “elite Border Security Command” led by a former police, military or intelligence chief.
Among the measures set to be proposed by Starmer are new border control stop and searches, building on powers created in 2000 by the Terrorism Act, along with new financial investigation powers and search and seizure warrants targeting organised immigration crime.
POLL OF THE DAY: Is Labour's immigration strategy any better than Rishi Sunak's? YOUR VERDICT
GB News
The new Border Security Command would bring together agencies including the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and MI5, while Labour will also pledge to hire hundreds of new specialist investigators to work across the UK and Europe to tackle people smuggling.
Last night GB News revealed more than 9,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year.
That figure is 35 per cent higher than the 6,691 who crossed the Channel at the same point last year.
Despite the rising numbers, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted his small boats strategy will stop the small boats crisis.
90 per cent of those who voted in the poll disagreed with the idea that Labour's immigration strategy is better than Sunak's.
Meanwhile, six per cent agreed that Labour's immigration strategy is better and four per cent were unsure.