Starmer insists new sanctions are key to stopping smuggling gangs

The new plans were “very similar to the powers we have used against terrorists, which allows us to seize their assets, to stop them travelling, and to put them out of business.”

“And so that is a really important step,” Sir Keir said.

He also hailed the plans as “a world first”.

The fact people smuggling is “so lucrative” is the “very reason we need to go for the money”, he said.

“The people running this trade are only interested in the amount of money that they can make, and if you can break that model, you can reduce that organized crime.”

The new powers would work in tandem with other policies announced by Sir Keir, including extra funding for the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the UK’s new Border Security Command (BSC) to make more arrests.

“The power of the sanctions is you can do it much more quickly at a much earlier stage” than arrests, Sir Keir added – letting law enforcement stop offenders earlier.

Sir Keir said the new policy draws on lessons he learned as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from 2008 to 2013, before entering politics.

He said: “As I learned as a chief prosecutor, follow the money, break the model.”