'It's too easy to work illegally in the UK', says Yvette Cooper as she vows to take phones from boat migrants
Yvette Cooper has admitted it is "too easy to work illegally in the UK", as she vows to roll out policy of confiscating small boat migrants' phones to gather information on people smugglers.
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Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari, the Home Secretary recognised the accessibility of illegal working acting as a pull factor for migrants.
She said: "There is no doubt that the criminal gangs use that as part of the pitch. They tell people they can come to the UK and work."
The government has increased illegal working raids and arrests for illegal working, Ms Cooper said.
She added: "We're going to continue to ramp up the enforcement - we're now targeting delivery drivers.
"We're going to go further, change the law so that the gig economy is covered by the illegal working rules... and also roll out digital ID for non UK citizens so that it is easier to crack down and to be able to prevent that illegal working in the first place."
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Ministers hope to tackle the “pull factors” attracting migrants to the UK alongside the deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron to send some people who reach England in small boats straight back to France.
Nick asked what questioning small boat migrants go through when they arrive, such as an in-depth interview or having their phone confiscated to gather data.
The Home Secretary, who recognised that most of those coming in small boats are young men, said everyone who arrives goes through security checks at the border.
She said: "But one of the things that's not been possible is to take everybody's phones and to be able to check their phones for the connections that they might have."
The problem with interviews is that most people will not give officers any information, she said.
"However, they may well have all of that information on their phone, because that's how people arrange all of these journeys.
"So another change we're making in the border security bill, which sadly, both Reform and the Conservatives have voted against, is to bring in counterterrorism powers to go after the gangs.
"But also to be able to seize the mobile phones at the border and be able to check mobile phones so that we can go after the criminal gang contacts that people have, in order to be able to pursue the gang networks in the first place."
The one in, one out migrant return scheme set out by Sir Keir and Mr Macron, which still needs final legal verification and consultation with the European Union, is due to begin within weeks.
Under the pilot scheme, for each small boat migrant sent back across the English Channel an asylum seeker will be allowed to enter the UK from France under a legal route.
No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the pilot, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to about 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782.
The Prime Minister and Mr Macron, who said Brexit had made it harder to deal with illegal migration, hope the deal will have a deterrent effect beyond the limited numbers involved in the trial period.
Sir Keir set out the plan alongside Mr Macron on Thursday at the conclusion of the French president’s state visit.