Chris Philp has slammed Yvette Cooper's plan (Image: PA)
Labour will make the Channel migrant crisis even worse by offering “the ultimate prize” of a British passport, critics have warned.
Yvette Cooper wants to “fast-track criminals” so she can “pretend to be taking action”, said Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
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Mr Philp slammed Labour’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, claiming it creates a “pathway to citizenship” which will convince migrants to cross the Channel.
He said it was a “slap in the face” to law-abiding families, adding that the Home Office’s new plan “sells our country out”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wrote exclusively for the Daily Express (Image: PA)
The Channel migrant crisis has overwhelmed the UK's asylum system (Image: PA)
Ms Cooper has insisted that giving Border Force counter-terrorism-style powers will allow the UK to “identify, disrupt and smash people smuggling gangs” faster.
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But her planned Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill also repeals large swathes of the Illegal Migration Act, which denied illegal migrants the right to claim asylum or stay in the UK.
Mr Philp told the Daily Express: “Labour's new Border Bill has nothing to do with securing our borders – it's about surrendering them.
“It is a total capitulation to people smugglers and is a charter for illegal immigrants.
“The Labour Bill now offers illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship, rewarding those who flout our laws with the ultimate prize: a British passport.
“We will fight this tooth and nail.
“While hard-working, law-abiding families play by the rules, Labour wants to fast-track criminals so the Home Secretary can pretend to be taking action.
“Let me be clear. Incentivising illegal crossings like this will only serve to fuel the human trafficking gangs that profit from human misery.”
Almost 250 small boat migrants arrived in freezing conditions during the first three days of the month, official figures have revealed.
It brings the total number of arrivals in 2025 to 1,344 people in 25 boats.
Some 36,816 small boat migrants were intercepted in the Channel last year.
Ms Cooper has insisted “smashing the gangs” will end the migrant crisis.
Small boat arrivals who refuse to be rescued by the French authorities in the Channel face up to five years in prison.
Under Labour’s plan, a new offence will be created to target those endangering another life during a crossing.
This means anyone fighting with French police on the beaches, holding children over the edge of a small boat or “rushing” vessels as they try to launch could all be prosecuted, with a maximum penalty of five years behind bars.
Criminals caught selling or handling small boat parts, such as engines or lifejackets, could also be jailed for up to 14 years.
The law changes are designed to replicate powers in the Terrorism Act 2006, so preparing for a crossing and possession of equipment such as boats, engines and life jackets would be a criminal offence if the intention was to use them to take migrants across the Channel.
Hundreds of criminals are believed to be involved in the small boats trade, the Daily Express understands.
Sources believe the biggest boat detected crossing the Channel had a staggering 120 people on board.
But Mr Philp added: “It was a catastrophic mistake to cancel Rwanda before it even started. And they are even removing the Government’s ability to use scientific age assessment methods such as X-rays to stop bogus asylum seekers pretending to be under 18.
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“The Government clearly has no plan and it’s no wonder illegal immigrants crossing the Channel are up 30% since the election.”
But a spokeswoman for Ms Cooper hit back, saying: “This is nonsense.
“There are already longstanding rules which stop people who enter Britain illegally from getting citizenship, and this Government is strengthening those rules to make clear that those who arrive on small boats will not become UK citizens.
“But the Tories' Illegal Migration Act was completely unworkable legislation, which is why barely any of it was ever implemented or operationalised by the previous government and this Government is having to clear up the mess.
“We are getting a grip of the system, not relying on unworkable gimmicks.”
Immigration officers and police will also be able to seize phones, laptops and other electronic devices before they arrest anyone if they are suspected of “containing information about organised immigration crime”.
Home Office sources warn Border Force officers often face "floating crime scenes", with traumatised migrants unable to speak about the horrors of the fatal crossings.
And the only way to access the vital intelligence on their devices, with the vast majority having paid a smuggler or a facilitator to cross the Channel, is to arrest them.
Officials believe changing the law to allow phone seizures before an arrest will let them gain vital clues on the criminal gangs without having to detain the asylum seekers.
National Crime Agency modelling has predicted that if crossings reach ￡10,000, it will lead to fewer migrants crossing the Channel, this newspaper has been told.
This will depend on more smugglers being arrested, and the organised crime gangs struggling to access boats or engines.
The Home Office is introducing Interim Serious Crime Prevention Orders to allow the National Crime Agency to apply for travel restrictions, to ban smugglers from using mobile phones or laptops, introduce social media bans, or ban them from meeting other members of their gangs.
The orders are designed to give investigators time to build a case against the suspects while protecting the public from further potential offences.
Home Office sources have previously insisted many of the gangs have members in the UK, who help “facilitate crossings” and collect payments for spaces on a dinghy.
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The new orders could help the National Crime Agency to “squeeze” the smuggling gangs, insiders believe.
It will also be crucial in hindering gangs who prosecutors are struggling to gather enough evidence on to haul them before judges.
Travel restrictions, in particular, are seen as a significant new weapon to “smash the gangs”.