Labour told 'detain and deport' illegal migrants should be TOP priority in No10 after damning report exposes Home Office culture

On Wednesday, a secret Home Office report revealed a "culture of defeatism" on immigration, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitting the department was "not yet fit for purpose".

Penned by Tory Minister Nick Timothy, the report shone a light on an excessively "defensive approach" among the civil service lawyers as well as a struggle by Whitehall top dogs to admit "difficult truths" to ministers.

Speaking to Alex Armstrong, Mr Smith said: "We need to detain and deport. We've got to stop this. It's top priority for the country that really demands political will.

"So I think the new Home Secretary has got to get together with a senior team at the Home Office and talk about it.

"What is she prepared to do? How far is she and Keir Starmer prepared to go to fix some of these problems?"

He further added that officials must work to rebuild a "culture of trust".

"Without that, we're going to continue to struggle, aren't we?"

The former Border Force chief insisted the service no longer controls the border, adding: "It's controlled by human rights lawyers.

"As soon as anyone reaches terra firma, there's a solicitor there who says there is a notice of application for asylum or human rights, and then you've got appeals, and they know your officials can't change that."

As a result, political will and political direction "from the very top of the Government" is demanded, adding that the Tories were "half-way there".

Mentioning the likes of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman, Mr Smith argued that "they tried to change things", adding that they both resigned because "they couldn't".

"But that wasn't really down to the officials. That was because the Cabinet wasn't prepared to bite off some of these big issues."

At that time, the Conservative Party was a "broadchurch", the immigration boss claimed, leading to hesitation towards ideas about leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as well as detaining migrants.

"I think now we're seeing more of the right of the Conservatives and Reform coming forward," he added.

Since the Tories shifted to the right, the flailing party is taking a stronger stance on immigration, kickstarted by their commitment to leaving the ECHR if they won the keys to No10 again.

Mrs Badenoch's pledge to leave the Convention followed Reform UK policy which had already committed to tearing up the Brussels document if they won the next General Election.

Meanwhile, among Nigel Farage's tougher policies on immigration includes the abolition of the right of migrants to win permanent settlement in Britain after five years.

More stringent rules would be put in place for migrants needing to reapply for brand-new visas, which would be helped along by the addiitonal abolution of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).