GovWire

Its great to welcome you all to Glasgow.

It was right here, in this conference centre, exactly three years ago that over 190 countries came together at COP26 to agree the Glasgow Climate Pact.

That was the first global commitment to phase down the use of coal. And a vital step in the fight against climate change - a challenge that no country can meet on its own.

So its fantastic that once again today, we have over 190 countries here working together to meet another global challenge: the threat of serious organised crime.

And its particularly fitting to be here in Glasgow: a place that was once home to what many consider to be the first professional City Police Force.

And a place that is today home to our state-of-the-art Scottish Crime Campus, just down the road in Gartcosh.

18 different organisations working together, under one roof, co-operating for a common cause. Precisely the kind of co-operation that is so essential to the missions of my government, and the foundation we rest everything upon.

Greater security for our people. Security rooted in our values, in respect for human rights and upholding the rule of law.

Now, I was a prosecutor myself. I served as the Director of Public Prosecutions in England and Wales. Not here in Scotland we have a complicated set of arrangements across these countries.

But what we know from being a country of four nations - what I know having served in that role - having seen the complexity of operations that fight organised crime, first-hand, is that crime is global.

Criminals do not respect borders. And so I want to start today by thanking you all of you here in this conference centre. And the thousands that you represent. Those who serve in police, in intelligence, and security services right across the world. Because too often what you do goes unrecognised.

Some of it necessarily unknown. But just look at some of the operations we can talk about they tell the story.

The UK working with the US and Ecuador to seize 19 tonnes of cocaine. The global identification of over 40,000 victims of child sexual abuse online, and more than 70 countries working together to save them.

60 countries working together to tackle online scams, resulting in almost 4,000 arrests, and more than $250 million of assets seized.

And of course, the operation which infiltrated and seized the online platform used by LockBit, the worlds most harmful cyber-crime group.

I know the hard work that goes into this. I know how many things have to come together, almost instantly. And most importantly I know what would happen without you.

The extra lives destroyed by drugs and violence. The unspeakable horrors of child sexual abuse. Gangs forcing the vulnerable into modern slavery or prostitution. People having their life savings stolen through online fraud.

Its your work, your service, that protects people from these threats. And because so much of your work is done in private, Im grateful for this opportunity in public to say a huge and heartfelt thank you.

Now, of course INTERPOL is absolutely central to these efforts. As I say I have seen the importance of global co-operation first-hand. I sent British prosecutors in Pakistan so we could work together on counter-terrorism. In West Africa to disrupt the flow of drugs from South America to Europe, and ultimately to the UK.

So I understand the power of what INTERPOL does, and why the UK makes great use of those resources

Handling thousands of enquiries every week from around the world, from intelligence sharing to managing direct threats to life.

So I am pleased to say today that the UK is increasing its funding for INTERPOL projects, investing 6 million this financial year.

This will include support for improved data-sharing, and faster communications capabilities. The first ever Global Fraud Threat Assessment, and new regional networks. From strengthening co-operation across the Pacific to tackling drug and gun smuggling networks in the Caribbean.

Because together, we want to send a clear message to the worlds most hardened criminals: there is no safe haven. There is no place that you can hide from justice. Together - weve got the whole world covered. And together we will defeat you.

And look there is a particular group of organised criminals that urgently need to hear this message: the vile people smugglers, who think that human life can be trafficked, that borders can be ignored.

And that desperation, misery and hope they prey on that too are all emotions that are ripe for exploitation.

Make no mistake people smuggling needs a global response. And on a scale way beyond where we are now. We need to unlock the power of that co-operation across borders, agencies, continents even.

And look I know many people in this room are already working hard on this. So I accept that my argument here is a political one, first and foremost.

But Im afraid were still at the stage where the world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge. It goes back to security.

I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that of course they are. But I say it again security doesnt stop at our borders.

And illegal migration is, without question, 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 dont advance the cause of global justice or compassion for those individuals to pretend that there is.

This is a vile trade that must be stamped out wherever it thrives. And it exploits the cracks between our institutions, pits nations against one another, profits from our inability at the political level - to come together.

Thats part of the business model. And so I will work with anyone serious who can offer solutions on this anyone.

Because without co-ordinated, global action, it will not go away.

And unless we bring all the powers we have to bear on this, in much the same way as we do for terrorism, then we will struggle to bring these criminals to justice.

And that in a sense is my message here today.People-smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism.

Weve got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes.

We do that with terrorism. When I was the Director of Public Prosecutions, it was my personal mission to smash the terrorist gangs. And we worked across borders to ensure the safety of citizens, across Europe and across the world.

Now, as the UKs Prime Minister, it is my personal mission to smash the people smuggling gangs. And look, that starts here in the UK.

This Labour government is resetting the UKs whole approach to this challenge. No more gimmicks. No more gesture politics. No more irresponsible, undeliverable promises that almost by design seek conflict with other countries.

We have turned the page on all of that. Because such promises are not worth the paper they are written on. All they do is waste taxpayer money, destroy peoples trust in politics as a force for good.

Instead, we are approaching this issue with humanity, and with profound respect for international law.

We will never withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. Indeed, were proud of the role the UK played in creating that Convention. Respecting international treaties also makes international co-operation easier, because it shows that the UK is a reliable partner.

So our approach is different. As I say - were going to treat people smugglers like terrorists. So were taking our approach to counter-terrorism - which we know works - and applying it to the gangs, with our new Border Security Command.

Were ending the fragmentation between policing, Border Force and our intelligence agencies. Recruiting hundreds of specialist investigators. They are best of the best - from our National Crime Agency, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, the CPS and our intelligence agencies - all working together.

Were making border protection an elite border force. And not just within our country. Were also working together with international partners, sharing intelligence and tactics.

Earlier this year I visited the Headquarters of our National Crime Agency. I saw first-hand the ways we are already collaborating, and what it takes to intercept, to disrupt, and destroy these networks. There are so many tools at our disposal.

We can seize their phones at the border, identifying and tracing smugglers wiring payments. Weve already trained sniffer dogs to detect the smell of dinghy rubber and working with Bulgaria stopped more than 100 small boats upstream, long before they made it to the Channel.

And as we understand how these gangs work, we can invest in new capabilities and enhanced powers to smash them.

So were giving our new Border Security Command an additional 75 million of new funding on top of the of 75 million weve already committed.

This will support a new Organised Immigration Crime Intelligence Unit, hundreds of new investigators and intelligence officers, backed by state-of-the-art technology.

Were also investing a further 58 million in our National Crime Agency, including strengthening its data analysis and intelligence capabilities.

And well also legislate to give those fighting these

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