Stopping the boats has been a challenges for a succession of PMs (Image: Getty)
Britain’s small boat crisis represents a “huge gap” in the UK’s national security with “tens of thousands of people each year illegally entering the country without checks”, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has warned. Mr Philp claimed the Government has “completely lost control of the situation” and is concerned potential terrorists could arrive in Britain this way.
He said Labour’s goal of “smashing the gangs” behind the crossings will not stop the arrivals and claimed the Government had made a “huge mistake” by cancelling the scheme to send illegal migrants to Rwanda before the first flight had taken off. Mr Philp said a “deterrent” is needed to persuade people not to attempt the journey and called on the Government to perform a u-turn.
Setting out his concerns, he said: “Since Labour came to office, well over 25,000 people have crossed by small boat and the Government [can’t] know who they are – they are just people turning up on a dingy so it is a huge gap in our border security and our national security… We need to make sure our borders are secured. I think the Labour Government has lost control of our borders and a different approach is needed to stop illegal immigration and get legal migration far, far down.”
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Mr Philp argues the Government stands no chance of stopping the crossings by the time of the next election “if they carry on like they are now”.
He said: “They’ve completely lost control of the situation. The idea that smashing the gangs alone is going to fix it is not accurate.
“Law enforcement alone is not enough. It needs a deterrent and they cancelled it…
“They made a huge mistake. If they want to protect our borders they need to perform a u-turn and restore a removals deterrent.”
The Shadow Home Secretary claimed the French are not doing enough to stop the boats heading to England. He said that if the boats were intercepted “very quickly illegal immigrants would stop attempting the crossings because if they knew they were going to be taken straight back to France they wouldn’t bother trying in the first place”.
Describing his security concerns, he said: “People who cross the Channel illegally in small boats, we’ve got no idea who they are. They could pose terrorist threats on our soil.
“They often come from countries in the Middle East where terrorism and extremism can be a problem. Having tens of thousands of people each year illegally entering the country without checks could also pose national security risks as well which is why we have got to stop it completely.”
Reform UK Deputy Leader MP said: “The boat crisis is spiralling out of control after 14 years of total Tory failure on immigration. Thousands of people are crossing the English Channel each week and we have no clear understanding of their beliefs, backgrounds, or motives.”
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But a Home Office source turned their guns on the Shadow Home Secretary, saying: “This is pathetic hypocrisy from Chris Philp. During his time as a Minister at the Home Office, over 70,000 small boats arrived and nothing was done about it.
“They wasted £700million on their Rwanda deal to send just four volunteers. The Labour Government is getting to grips with the mess the left at our borders.
“We have secured commitments from the French to intervene small boats in shallow waters, something Philp claims to want but that the never managed to achieve.”