The home secretary says the government inherited a "broken" immigration system in which there was an increase of visas being issued without "proper checks and systems in place". Yvette Cooper's comments come after a cross-party committee of MPs said the Home Office had failed to check whether foreign workers were leaving the UK or staying to work illegally. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
00:00We inherited a really broken immigration system from the previous government where, as the committee identifies, we saw a big increase in the number of visas issues, huge increase and yet no proper checks and systems in place.
00:13So we are reducing the number of visas issued, we're bringing in stronger controls and we're also bringing in a much stronger digital system that will mean we can properly track entry and exit with digital e-visas as well.
00:28Well, small boat crossings undermine border security and put lives at risk. No one should be making these dangerous journeys.
00:35We know part of the issue is the criminal gangs have been exploiting the fact that French rules for too long have meant they don't intervene, law enforcement can't intervene in French waters.
00:47I've been working very closely with the French interior minister who agrees that those rules need to change.
00:53We're starting to see that happen with the French law enforcement starting to trial new things.
00:59We need that in place urgently as rapidly as possible so that we can prevent those boat crossings in the first place.
