‘Smash the gangs’ is just Keir Starmer’s version of ‘stop the boats’. It won’t solve the migrant crisis | Enver Solomon

The PM echoes Tony Blair in his pledge to be tough on crime – but he is less interested in the causes behind the Channel crossings

Enver Solomon is chief executive of the Refugee Council

It may not be one of the government’s five stated missions, but Keir Starmer is making disrupting the criminal gangs behind cross border migration his own crusade. The prime minister told the annual assembly of Interpol in Glasgow on Monday it was his “personal mission to smash the people-smuggling gangs”.

This government seems to be replacing its predecessor’s “stop the boats” slogan with “smash the gangs”. The focus is on enforcement, including rapid prosecutions, echoing the government’s response to the far-right violence in August. Starmer, who is meeting other leaders at the European political community summit in Hungary today also wants to establish a new security pact with the EU to overcome the fact that Brexit has hamstrung efforts to clamp down on the crossings – in particular, by removing access to the EU-wide fingerprinting database.

Enver Solomon is chief executive of the Refugee Council

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