Ex-police chief to lead efforts to tackle small boats

Martin Hewitt was head of the National Police Chiefs' Council between 2019 and 2023

Former police chief Martin Hewitt has been appointed to lead the UK's new Border Security Command, which will focus on tackling small boat crossings.

As chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), Mr Hewitt previously coordinated action by UK police forces on issues including terrorism and organised crime.

He will join Sir Keir Starmer on a visit to Rome on Monday, where the prime minister will meet his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni to learn from her country's approach to tackling illegal migration.

Italy has recently seen a dramatic fall in the number of migrants making the dangerous crossing from north Africa.

Reducing the number of people crossing the Channel from France in small boats is one of the major challenges facing the new Labour government.

Over the weekend eight people died attempting the crossing.

The Border Security Command will bring together intelligence agencies, police and border force officials to tackle the smuggling gangs behind small boat crossings.

Mr Hewitt led the NPCC between 2019 and 2023 and previously served as an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police.

Downing Street said his experience coordinating the work of police, government and other agencies, including responding to major securing threats and managing the UK's response to the Covid pandemic, was "key to his appointment".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "No more gimmicks. This government will tackle the smuggling gangs who trade the lives of men, women and children across borders.

"Martin Hewitt’s unique expertise will lead a new era of international enforcement to dismantle these networks, protect our shores and bring order to the asylum system."

Mr Hewitt said: "I am under no illusions of the challenges that lie ahead, but I am determined to face them head-on.

“For too long, the criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe have abused our borders in the name of profit, and they are responsible for the deaths of scores of vulnerable, innocent people."

More than 23,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year

During their visit to Rome, Sir Keir and Mr Hewitt will tour Italy's National Coordination Centre for Migration to see how the country responds to illegal migration and discuss future cooperation.

Over the weekend, Sir Keir said he was "interested" in Italy's migration deal with Albania, under which migrants rescued at sea will be sent to the Balkan country while their asylum claims are processed.

Asked whether he would consider pursuing a similar agreement, Sir Keir said: "Let's see. It's in the early days, I'm interested in how that works, I think everybody else is."

Reception centres in Albania are due to open later this year, after some delays.

After winning power, Labour scrapped the previous Conservative government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda from the UK.

Under the Italian agreement, migrants will still be able to apply for asylum in Italy while they are in Albania. If refused, they will face deportation.

This differs from the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme, where asylum seekers would not have been allowed to return to the UK if their claim was accepted and would instead have been able to stay in Rwanda.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Keir Starmer has absolutely no plan to stop the boats, and that’s why he’s now resorting to trying to copy others."

He said Labour had "scrapped this country’s deterrent to illegal immigration and signalled to the vile people smuggling gangs they were not willing to take the serious action needed to stop the boats".

Frontex, the EU’s border force, has calculated a 64% drop this year in those making the crossing from North Africa to Italy.

Central to the fall in crossings to Italy are financial deals struck with Tunisia and Libya – where most people depart from for Europe.

The EU has given Tunisia funding to boost border security, while Italy has supplied patrol vessels and given the government money to support small companies and invest in education and renewable energy.

Italian Prime Minister Meloni, who leads a right-wing coalition in Italy, was a close ally of Sir Keir's Conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak.

Sir Keir's visit comes as he seeks a wider "reset" of relations with Europe after Brexit, and follows meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.