Britain can't control its own borders, admits Home Secretary as she vows to regain public trust
Shabana Mahmood will make the warning while hosting allies in London as part of international cooperation to combat illegal migration
Britain cannot control who enters and who leaves the country, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will tell Balkan counterparts during a key summit.
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While hosting a summit with ministers from across the Western Balkans, Ms Mahmood is set to declare that Britain is failing to secure its borders and risks eroding trust in the state itself.
At the gathering, the Home Secretary will say: "The public rightly expect that their government will be able to determine who enters their country, and who must leave.
"Today, in this country, and I know in many if not all of yours, that is not the case.
"And the failure to bring order to our borders is eroding trust not just in us as political leaders... But in the credibility of the state itself."
Read More: Labour proposals to change ECHR to curb illegal migration backed by more than a dozen member states
During the summit, Ms Mahmood will aim to strike new deals with partners to stem the waves of migrants arriving on Britain's shores.
Expected on the agenda are discussions on how to crack down on human trafficking gangs, with a focus on renewed co-operation between Britain, Europe, and border police forces across Europe.
The Home Secretary is also expected to hit out at the Government's political opponents, such as Reform UK's Nigel Farage, accusing them of wanting to "turn inwards" and seek solutions to migration without the aid of other countries.
"Illegal migration is a shared threat which requires a strong, joined-up international response," Ms Mahmood will say.
She will add: "To those who think the answer to the challenges that we face is to turn inwards, or back away from international co-operation, I say that in coming together as we are today we will make all of our borders and our countries stronger.
"I am proud that the UK is leading the charge on a co-ordinated response to tackle organised crime and take down the vile people-smuggling gangs who put the value of human lives behind their own profits."
The Western Balkans, which includes the countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe.
According to the Home Office, the region is becoming a major transit route for people smugglers, as well as those trafficking drugs across borders.
Some 22,000 people were smuggled by gangs along routes through the Western Balkans in 2024, the Government department said.
Director-general of the National Crime Agency, Graeme Biggar, will join the gathering in the afternoon to discuss work on disrupting the supply chains of the gangs, and a session on combating violence against women and girls is also due to be held.
The Conservatives said Ms Mahmood's warning was "rich coming from a government that has lost control of our borders".
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, added: "The first nine months of this year have been the worst in history for illegal immigrants crossing the channel.
"The Government is accommodating more illegal immigrants in hotels than at the election, and have only returned a paltry 26 to France - over a time period when 14,000 have arrived.
"This is clearly no deterrent.
"The Conservatives would leave the ECHR which will enable us to remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival.
"Then the crossings would soon stop."