Spy unit 'to fight people traffickers' announced by new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper - with British police officers deployed to Europe funded by partly scrapped Rwanda scheme

Counter-terrorism-style laws to combat the Channel crisis are being drawn up by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, it was announced last night.

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 will also today launch the hunt for an 'exceptional leader' to head up her new Border Security Command, a Home Office spokesman said.

The successful candidate could be a former spy, senior police officer or military leader and is expected to start work within 'weeks'. 

The unit will tackle people traffickers behind small-boat crossings by bringing together the National Crime Agency, intelligence agencies, police, and the Home Office's immigration enforcement and Border Force teams.

A 'significant' number of its staff will be based on the Continent alongside Europol and European police forces.

During the election campaign Tory frontbenchers suggested the new agency was almost identical to existing set-ups.

Labour's manifesto promised it will have 'hundreds of new investigators, intelligence officers, and cross-border police officers'. The £75million-a-year cost would be funded by scrapping the Rwanda scheme, the Home Office added.

A spokesman said a 'core team' in the department is drawing up the agency's 'remit, governance and strategic direction'.

Ms Cooper has also ordered her department and the National Crime Agency — dubbed 'Britain's FBI' — to report on the 'latest routes, methods and tactics used by people smuggling gangs across Europe'.

The findings will be used in a major law enforcement drive over the coming months. Ms Cooper said: 'Criminal smuggling gangs are making millions out of small-boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk.

'We can't carry on like this. We need to tackle the root of the problem, going after these dangerous criminals and bringing them to justice.'

She added: 'The Border Security Command will be a major step change in UK enforcement efforts to tackle organised immigration crime, drawing on substantial resource to work across Europe and beyond to disrupt trafficking networks and to coordinate with prosecutors in Europe to deliver justice.' 

In an article for The Sunday Times, Sir Tony said a failure to implement proper border control would breed 'prejudices' and allow new political parties to 'run riot'.

But his main proposal of a new identity card system — similar to one he introduced in 2006 — was immediately ruled out by the new government.

'We need a plan to control immigration. If we don't have rules, we get prejudices,' the former prime minister said.

He added: 'In office, I believed the best solution was a system of identity so that we know precisely who has a right to be here. With... technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective.'