We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The current fleet, which is 20 years old, will be retired and 11 new vessels will come into service to help tackle organised crime and illegal migration in a £74million plan.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will also set aside £628million “to modernise and digitalise the border”, with plans for US-style electronic travel authorisation ‑ meaning tourists will have to be given permission before they can enter the UK.

Electronic authorisations will launch in 2023.

Mr Sunak said: “Protecting our borders and making it easier for us all to travel to and from our great nation is at the heart of our ambitions as a government.”

A Home Office procurement document has revealed a list of equipment being ordered for Border Force, which has five cutters that are regularly out of service for repair.

Its shopping list includes £18million on military-grade drones to monitor the Channel, £35million on search dogs that can detect human bodies at border controls in northern France and £1million on “emergency transport for staff and illegal migrants”. 

More than 18,000 people have this year reached the UK on small boats, according to data.

That’s more than double the figure for 2020.

The Spending Review, to be announced on Wednesday, will also include just over £1billion to be spent on “new UK sovereign functions” following Brexit.

This will include money for more than 1,000 Border Force officers to deliver customs and transit checks.

What is happening where you live? Find out by adding your postcode or visit InYourArea

Source: Read Full Article