00:00This £150 million is for the Border Security Command to hire additional investigators,
00:06intelligence officers, international liaison officers, and also invest in the new technology
00:11that we need, including on surveillance, on data analysis, to be able to go after the criminal
00:17gangs who are undermining border security, who are putting lives at risk. And we'll do this
00:21alongside new partnership agreements with other countries, because we have to tackle this as part
00:27of an international law enforcement operation. We've seen criminal smuggler and trafficking
00:33networks operate across borders. The challenges that they create affect countries not just in
00:40Europe, but beyond as well. And in order to deal with those cross-border criminal networks,
00:47we need cross-border law enforcement and cooperation. And that's why we're announcing
00:51this here at Interpol. That's why we're investing in additional UK resources as part of our Border
00:58Security Command. But we have to do this alongside other countries who are being heavily affected as
01:03well. We saw the first half of the year under the Conservatives, when the Rwanda scheme was
01:09in place, had the highest number of crossings for that time of the year on record. We were
01:15concerned that that would continue. In fact, that hasn't happened. Over the summer, the numbers were
01:19lower. In October, the numbers were higher. And that's linked to Met Office weather forecasts as
01:25well. But we can't just have things be affected simply by the weather. We've got to go after the
01:30criminal gangs who are at the heart of this problem. And the problem with the Rwanda scheme,
01:34it ran for two and a half years, spent £700 million and sent just four volunteers to Rwanda.
01:41That was a failing scheme. That's why we need to invest in going after the criminal gangs instead.
01:45We need to end asylum hotels that are costing the taxpayer a fortune and deal with the chaos
01:51that we've inherited in the asylum system. We did inherit in July a soaring backlog because
01:58the Conservatives had just collapsed asylum decision-making. It had dropped by about 75%,
02:04even just in the last few months. That's left us with a soaring backlog we're then having to deal
02:09with. They warned us that we would have to increase substantially the asylum accommodation
02:16through the summer. We've managed to prevent that happening. And that's why we are now taking
02:21the action, getting additional caseworkers in place and additional action to start clearing
02:25the backlog. And that will be saving hundreds of millions of pounds this year. And over the next
02:31few years, we're expecting to save £4 billion as a result of the measures that we're taking
02:36that will mean that we can take the action we need to end asylum hotels.
02:41The Prime Minister has made very clear that we welcome the election of Kemi Badenoch,
02:46and he has congratulated her on that election. I think we'll obviously have lots of differences
02:52about different issues, but as the Prime Minister has said, it's important to congratulate someone.
02:58To have the first black woman leader of a major political party is also inspiring for young people.
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