UK politics live: Two new members of Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet named after rallying cry to Tory staff

Downing Street insisted the government wants to see small boat crossing numbers falling, but would not reveal if ministers have a target.

Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson insisted the government is “going to make progress as rapidly as is possible” on migrant crossings, pointing to its record of 9,400 returns recorded since Labour took power.

But he would not be drawn into revealing if the government has a target for when crossings will start to reduce, telling reporters: “I am not going to set out new targets here today. You have got the manifesto commitment, you have got the prime minister’s words.

“Clearly the government’s ambition is to reduce small boats crossings and that is why we are putting significant resource focus into this crisis.”

Asked if the government would be satisfied were numbers making the crossing to remain the same next year, he replied: “No, the government wants to do everything it can to reduce small boats crossings.

“It inherited a situation where small boats crossings before the election were up 18 per cent on the same period from the year before. That is not an acceptable position and that is a reflection of the system in chaos, and that is why the government is focused on putting in place the practical steps that will bring small boats crossings down.”

The first members of Kemi Badenoch’s new shadow cabinet have been named.

Laura Trott has been appointed shadow education secretary and Neil O’Brien has been appointed shadow education minister in Kemi Badenoch‘s opposition team, it is understood.

Both will be on the opposition front bench for education oral questions in the Commons on Monday afternoon.

New Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is understood to have told Conservative Party staff that they can turn their fortunes around in one political term, but must initially focus on principles over policy.

Ms Badenoch has been at the party’s headquarters in Westminster on Monday morning as she is in the process of deciding who will be in her top team.

In an address to CCHQ staff, it is thought Ms Badenoch said the first challenge for the party will be winning back council seats at local elections.

She is also understood to have said the party can turn their situation around in one term and that policy will come soon, but the party needs to start with principles such as freedom of speech and personal responsibility.

There is “nothing progressive” about turning a blind eye to people making dangerous channel crossings to reach the UK, Sir Keir Starmer told Interpol’s general assembly.

In total, 31,904 people have made the journey so far this year, up 16.5 per cent on the same point in 2023.

“Security doesn’t stop at our borders”, the prime minister said, adding that illegal migration is a “massive driver of global insecurity”.

“There is nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men women and children die in the channel. And you don’t advance the cause of global justice or compassion for those individuals to pretend that there is”, he said.

The UK will increase its funding for Interpol projects, investing £6m this year, Sir Keir Starmer said.

Speaking at the organisation’s general assembly in Glasgow, the prime minister said the money will support improved data sharing and faster communications capabilities, as well as a global fraud threat assessment network.

“We want to send a clear message to the world’s most hardened criminals that there is no safe haven. There is no place you can hide from justice”, he said.

“Together, we’ve got the whole world covered, and together we will defeat you.”

While the home secretary was really just the warm up act in Glasgow at the Interpol conference for the prime minister, she made a very important point at a tipping point in world history.

With the Tories still considering withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights (EDHR) as they try to ape Nigel Farage, and Americans considering voting for an isolationist president in Donald Trump, Yvette Cooper made the case for international law.

She told the audience: “International security and domestic security are one and the same thing.”

At a time when political parties want to start to unpick the network of international agreements, Ms Cooper’s statement carries special significance.

The UK is drawing up new agreements with other countries to tackle people smuggling gangs and tackle the small boats crisis, Yvette Cooper has said.

Announcing a £150m package of measures to tackle the small boat crisis, the home secretary said the new agreements will “strengthen law enforcement, disrupt supply chains, break the business models of the gangs and to bring offenders to justice”.

“We know that the best way to strengthen UK Border Security, is to work in partnership with other countries”, she said.

Ms Cooper called for an “integrated global response” to tackle people smuggling gangs, saying they are “profiting from human misery, putting lives at risk, undermining border security and destabilising communities.”

She said: “Here in the UK, our new Border Security Command is leading the fight against the criminal gangs who, every week, are crowding vulnerable people into flimsy dinghies on the coast of France, leaving dozens this year to drown or be crushed to death as they attempt to cross the channel.

“But we know those gangs operate not just on our shores, but all across Europe and beyond – a network of exploitation stretching around the globe.”

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said she wants stronger international cooperation to tackle violence against women and girls, and child sexual abuse, the “scale of which should continue to shame us all”.

She told delegates at the Interpol conference in Glasgow: “We must also have a much stronger and more integrated global response to the organised immigration crime, which is growing around the world and profiting from human misery – putting human lives at risk, undermining border security and destabilising communities.”

Ms Cooper added: “We know these gangs operate not just on our shores but all across Europe and beyond, a network of exploitation stretching around the globe.”

Home secretary Yvette Cooper is speaking at the Interpol conference in Glasgow.

Ms Cooper said: “At a time when networks of organised and serious crimes fan the world, it matters more than ever to have equally integrated and global networks of law enforcement agencies working together to fight crime and to keep our communities safe.

“The UK is proud to be at the heart of those efforts. Every year our Interpol bureau in the National Crime Agency sends out 20,000 requests to partners around the world. And every day, they manage more than 1,000 incoming messages, and we see the impact of that cooperation here on our streets.”