BORIS Johnson has branded migrants’ Channel crossings a “very bad and stupid and dangerous and criminal thing to do” as he hinted at changing laws to tackle the crisis.
The Prime Minister’s comments came as a French politician warned the UK’s decision to send in the Royal Navy “won’t change anything” and a former Home Office official said he was sceptical of the plans.
Efforts to address the crisis intensified yesterday as more crossings continued in the early hours of the morning, with an inflatable dinghy thought to be carrying more than 20 Syrians met by a Border Force patrol boat off the coast of Dover in Kent.
Home Secretary Priti Patel also headed to Dover, and was spotted disembarking from a police boat that had been out in the Channel earlier that morning.
At the same time, the Royal Air Force (RAF) dispatched a plane to survey the Channel after the flight was authorised by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. The Government has faced growing criticism and accusations of being “increasingly chaotic” in its handling of the crisis.
Speaking during a trip to St Joseph’s school in Upminster, Mr Johnson said: “There’s no doubt that it would be helpful if we could work with our French friends to stop them (migrants) getting over the Channel.
“Be in no doubt what’s going on is the activity of cruel and criminal gangs who are risking the lives of these people taking them across the Channel, a pretty dangerous stretch of water in potentially unseaworthy vessels.
“We want to stop that, working with the French, make sure that they understand that this isn’t a good idea, this is a very bad and stupid and dangerous and criminal thing to do.
“But then there’s a second thing we’ve got to do and that is to look at the legal framework that we have that means that when people do get here, it is very, very difficult to then send them away again, even though blatantly they’ve come here illegally.”
Meanwhile Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont, when asked about involving the Navy, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is a political measure to show some kind of resource to fight against smugglers and illegal crossings in the Channel, but technically speaking that won’t change anything.”
Asked if it might be a deterrent, he added: “Yes, but that’s dangerous, because if there is a vessel from the Royal Navy trying to push a vessel, very small boat full with migrants, back into French waters – first you could say that you’ve got British vessels entering French waters, I don’t know if the British Government would be very happy to see the other way, if French vessels would enter without any ask, before or without any decision before, into British waters.”
He said French authorities were already trying to do “whatever we can” to intercept crossings.
Former Home Office permanent secretary Sir David Normington told the programme he was “a bit sceptical” about using the navy and the “only solution” is to work with French officials to “persuade them to intensify their efforts to stop illegal migrants”.
Regarding speculation the UK may need to provide an extra £30 million to help the French fund patrols, he said: “Well, if it takes money to help the French increase their resources and their manpower then that will have to be done.
“There’s a long history of Britain putting money into resources for the French on the French coast.”
More than 4,000 migrants have now reached the UK so far this year, making the dangerous crossing across the world’s busiest shipping lane.
At least 597 arrived in the country in a surge of crossings between Thursday and Sunday. Last year, Ms Patel vowed the crossings would become an “infrequent phenomenon” by now.
The Home Office has now appointed a former Royal Marine to head up an operation to tackle the problem and formally requested help from the Royal Navy for help - a move branded a “completely potty” idea by a Ministry of Defence (MoD) source.
The RAF carried out aerial surveillance using an Atlas plane as part of an “initial offer of assistance” from the MoD to the Home Office. But the purpose of the flight is so far unclear.
Today, immigration minister Chris Philp is due to hold the latest round of talks with his French counterparts in Paris.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel