First migrants to cross the Channel since Labour's election victory arrive in the UK: Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vows to crack down on smuggling gangs but brands Rwanda deportation scheme a 'complete con' after scrapping project before it

The first migrants to cross the Channel since Labour's election victory have arrived in the UK as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vows to crack down on people smuggling gangs.

Pictures showed groups of people arriving from France wearing life jackets, and some wrapped in blankets, being escorted off a Border Force boat in Dover, Kent, with children among those seen being carried ashore.

Crossings resumed on Monday, after a six-day hiatus amid poor weather conditions at sea, on the same day Ms Cooper launched a Border Security Command designed to crack down on the gangs orchestrating the crossings.

The new Home Secretary branded the Rwanda migrant deportation scheme a 'complete con' today as she hinted Labour would try to recoup some of the £290million spent before it was axed.

Ms Cooper said she planned to audit the programme to send Channel boat arrivals to east Africa, which was axed by Sir Keir Starmer in one of his first decisions after entering No10.

But almost a third of a billion pounds has already been given to the Kagame government, despite the only migrants to leave Britain being four volunteers. 

Questions will be raised over how much can be recouped. But Ms Cooper told LBC radio: 'We are auditing the whole scheme… It has clearly been a complete con.'

So far this year 13,574 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, according to the latest available Home Office figures.

This is already a record for the first six months of a calendar year.

No crossings have been recorded since July 1. The Home Office will confirm how many people made the journey on Monday, the first under the new Labour administration, in data published on Tuesday.

Ms Cooper said setting up the Border Security Command unit was Labour's first priority on migration as she faced questions on the future of the Bibby Stockholm barge, which is being used to house asylum seekers in Portland, Dorset.

She did not confirm whether the Government would abandon use of the barge but told reporters: 'We need to clear the Conservatives' asylum backlog, but the first priority has to be to get the stronger border security in place, and that is why our first step is setting up the new border security command.'

Recruitment of a border security commander, who will report directly to the Home Secretary, has begun with the new recruit expected to take up their post in the coming weeks, the Home Office said.

The commander will be a 'leader used to working in complex and challenging environments, for example at senior levels of policing, intelligence or the military' and will bring together the work of the National Crime Agency (NCA), intelligence agencies, police, immigration enforcement and Border Force, the department said.

New laws will be brought in to introduce counter terror-style powers and measures to fight organised immigration crime, officials added.

Ms Cooper has also ordered an investigation into the latest routes, methods and tactics used by people smuggling gangs across Europe to inform a 'major law enforcement drive' over the coming months.

Over the weekend Sir Keir Starmer said the stalled multi-million pound plan to send migrants to Rwanda is 'dead and buried' as he confirmed the deportation policy is to be scrapped.

The Prime Minister said he was 'not prepared to continue with gimmicks' as Labour announced plans to free the last two migrants who were detained ahead of anticipated flights.

Asked if she has had any contact with Rwanda about winding the plan down and getting any money back, Ms Cooper said: 'Well, the Prime Minister has obviously set out the position on the Rwanda scheme where as we know, the Conservatives ran this scheme for two and a half years, and sent simply four volunteers as well as hundreds of millions of pounds.'

She said her 'key priority' as incoming Home Secretary is to 'strengthen Britain's border security, where I think we have been let down for too long'.

Last night it was announced that counter-terrorism-style laws to combat the Channel crisis are being drawn up.

The Home Office promised 'early legislation', suggesting a new Bill will be contained in the King's Speech later this month.

However, the Government has still not disclosed what the counter-terrorism powers will involve, or fully explained how they will help fill the vacuum left by the scrapped Rwanda asylum scheme.

It is not yet known whether MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will be directly involved in small-boat investigations.

The announcement came as Sir Tony Blair warned the new Labour government it must draw up a 'plan to control immigration' to see off the 'challenge' of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.

Ms Cooper today launched the hunt for an 'exceptional leader' to head up her new Border Security Command.

The Prime minister's spokesman admitted the summer will be 'challenging' for the Government as small boat crossings continue, with the Rwanda scheme 'dead and buried'.

Asked if those arriving by small boats would now have the right to claim asylum, the Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'We need to ensure that people who arrive here are processed so that people are not sitting in the system, housed in expensive taxpayer-funded hotels as they have been under previous administrations.'