A British law enforcement agency tackling organised crime on Thursday said social media companies were hindering efforts to combat people traffickers.
Rob Jones, director of threat leadership at the National Crime Agency, said police had asked for the closure of 1,200 accounts linked to "immigration crime" in the first five months of the year, but only 578 had been blocked.
"We were very certain when we made those referrals that there was a problem with those accounts," Jones told a parliamentary committee, a day after the government said more than 400 migrants crossed the Channel from France in small boats -- a record for a single day.
"To see that level of attrition... is challenging for us," he added. "They are applying their own decision-making and we have no traction over that."
A surge in numbers attempting the hazardous crossing of the world's busiest shipping lane is a key political issue in Britain, and the right-wing government has vowed to stop the practice.
Jones said traffickers were using encrypted communications via social media accounts to organise crossings of small boats ladened with migrants from northern France.
More than 5,600 migrants and asylum seekers have crossed the Channel in small vessels this year, according to Home Office figures.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to "address the rigidities in our laws that make this country... a target and a magnet for those who would exploit vulnerable people in this way".
The government has appointed a former Royal Marine, Dan O'Mahoney, to reduce the number of crossings.
Also speaking Thursday, he said border authorities had been "exploring various different tactics", including efforts to counter "misinformation".
"There is a huge misinformation campaign going on with the facilitators, who tell them (migrants) the streets are paved with gold in the UK," he told MPs.
"As anyone knows who's travelled to France, it's a perfectly civilised country."
About half of those arriving on small boats in recent months have had their asylum requests assessed, according to the government.
Twenty percent of those have been granted, 10 percent rejected, and the rest have been judged ineligible, it added.
The arrivals have caused political tensions between London and Paris.
Britain's Conservative government has publicly pressured France to do more to stem the crossings.
But French authorities insist they are doing all they can, and last month the mayor of the port city of Calais told Johnson he should "calm down".
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)