Government pledges extra £100m funding to tackle people smuggling

The Home Office has announced £100m in extra funding to crack down on illegal people-smuggling in the English Channel.

The money will pay for up to 300 additional National Crime Agency (NCA) officers as well as new technology and equipment.

More than 25,000 people made the journey from France to the UK in small boats before the end of July, a record for this point in the year.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the move would help the UK better “track the [smuggling] gangs and bring them down”. The Conservative Party called it a “desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference”.

Last month, the government agreed a “one in, one out” pilot scheme with France which aims to deter migrants from crossing the Channel. Under the scheme, some arrivals…