Premiership of Keir Starmer

People-smuggling gangs sending migrants across the English Channel in small boats are a serious threat to global security and should be treated like terror networks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told an international law-enforcement conference.

Britain's economy grew less than initially estimated in the second quarter, revised official data revealed on Monday, dealing another early blow to new Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour government.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a welcome ceremony with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, right, on the occasion of his visit, at Villa Doria Pamphilj, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024

The U.K. government on Wednesday announced new measures to curb the arrival of migrants on boats from France and to step up the removal of failed asylum seekers.

It said 100 new "specialist intelligence and investigation officers" would be recruited to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to help dismantle smuggling gangs that run the dangerous Channel crossings.