Britain will still be in the grip of a full-blown migrant crisis in 12 month’s time because of Labour’s toothless policies, a senior Tory has warned. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said illegal migrants will continue to flock to the UK as long as there is no robust deterrent and that we remain inside the European Convention on Human Rights.
He also took a swipe at new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for “talking a good game” but said Labour will never properly solve the problem. Mr Philp’s stark warning, during an interview on our weekday news show the Daily Expresso, came as the total of migrants crossing the English Channel this year hit 40,000. More than 700 migrants made the perilous journey in 11 boats on Saturday following a 28-day run of no arrivals.
*** WATCH CHRIS PHILP IN THE LATEST EPISODE OF DAILY EXPRESSO HERE ***
Even Ms Mahmood has conceded the government’s efforts to smash the smuggling gangs are in trouble.
Mr Philp said only radical change will curb numbers significantly.
“It is completely failing, Labour has no control over our borders whatsoever,” he said.
“There is no deterrent because illegal immigrants get put up in hotels at taxpayers’ expense, they can work in the illegal economy, and the chances of them getting kicked out are virtually zero.
“No wonder illegal immigrants end up flocking to Calais and then crossing the English Channel.”
Britain agreed with France in 2023 to hand over £500million for extra police and a new detention centre.
And Sir Keir also dolled out £100million into the flagship « one-in, one-out » returns deal, but only 150 have been sent back to France.
“The one in, one out scheme is ridiculous because 10,000 come in and about 50 go out,” Mr Philp said.
“I don’t think Labour are going to fix this because they want to stay in the ECHR and as long as you are inside it’s essentially impossible to properly police our borders.”
Mr Philp said his opposite number is doing a better job than her predecessor – Yvette Cooper – she will ultimately fail to end the crisis.
“While new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood talks a good game, it won’t actually do anything and we’ll be sitting here in a year’s time and nothing will have changed,” he added.
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