New funding to add 300 NCA officers as migrant crossings hit record pace before year’s end

The UK government has pledged an extra £100m to combat the criminal gangs behind record levels of small boat crossings in the English Channel. The Home Office said the money will fund up to 300 additional National Crime Agency (NCA) officers, as well as new technology and equipment to strengthen Britain’s border security.

The move comes as more than 25,000 people have crossed from France to the UK in small boats by the end of July – the highest number ever recorded at this stage of the year.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the funding was aimed at hitting smugglers “harder than ever” by targeting their networks across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and beyond. She described the gangs as showing “a ruthless ability to adapt their tactics and maximise their profits, no matter how many lives they put at risk.”

The NCA currently has 91 ongoing investigations into smuggling networks that impact the UK, according to its director general of operations, Rob Jones. Cooper said the new investment would give officers the tools they need to “track the gangs and bring them down.”

However, the plan has been met with immediate political criticism. The Conservative Party branded the move “a desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference.” Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of having “no serious plan” to deal with the crisis, warning that the public “deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also dismissed the measure in a column for the Daily Express, calling it “throwing taxpayer money at the illegal immigration crisis and hoping it will go away.” Farage added: “Another £100 million here or there won’t move the needle. It won’t stop the boats or the gangs.”

The pledge follows last month’s announcement of a “one in, one out” pilot agreement with France. Under that arrangement, some arrivals would be returned to France in exchange for the UK accepting an equivalent number of asylum seekers with established ties to Britain, pending security checks.

While both Conservative and Labour governments have struggled to slow the flow of small boat arrivals, the political approaches have diverged. The Conservatives’ flagship Rwanda deportation scheme was delayed by legal challenges and ultimately scrapped by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer shortly after taking office. Starmer labelled it a “gimmick” that would not have solved the problem.

Alongside the funding boost, the government has announced a new offence targeting those who advertise illegal Channel crossings online. The proposed law would carry penalties of up to five years in prison and hefty fines for creating or publishing material that promotes or offers services in breach of UK immigration law.

Officials say this would include social media posts advertising fake passports, visas, or false job offers to lure people into illegal migration routes. While assisting illegal immigration is already a crime, ministers believe the new law will give police and agencies greater powers to disrupt online propaganda and recruitment by smuggling gangs.

The Home Office insists these combined measures represent a serious escalation in the fight against criminal networks profiting from the dangerous crossings. But with arrivals already at record levels just seven months into the year, the challenge facing the government remains immense.