More than 1,000 illegal migrants arrived in the UK by small boats over a three-day period, prompting criticism of Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood over border control.
Home Office figures reveal daily crossings
Home Office figures show 150 small boat migrants arrived on Monday September 21, 154 on Tuesday September 22, and 781 on Wednesday September 23. That means 1,085 people crossed in the three-day period.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the numbers showed Shabana Mahmood had no control of the borders, with boats crossing undetected. He noted a recent crossing from Normandy towards the Isle of Wight, described as the longest ever, and said over 1,000 illegal immigrants entered the country in just three days last week.
Criticism of French cooperation and ECHR
Speaking to GB News, Philp claimed France was doing nothing to stop small boats despite payments of £1 billion from the UK government. He said the French Interior Minister had admitted that French gendarmes had orders to stand around doing nothing and not intervening, and that he had personally witnessed this on the beaches weeks ago.
Philp highlighted Conservative plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). He said the only solution was to follow Australia's approach from about 13 years ago: leave the ECHR and deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival, which he argued would quickly stop the crossings.
Prime Minister's response
In an interview to coincide with Labour's annual conference in Liverpool, Burnham said Brexit had made stopping small boats harder. He told BBC South East the UK and EU had a more cooperative system in the past to prevent crossings between France and Great Britain.
He acknowledged the UK is not able to have the same levels of collaboration as before, but said he would not put that forward as a reason to stop working until crossings are reduced. He declined to name a date by which the Government would stop all crossings, but said he and the Home Secretary would not stop until every element of the criminal, illegal activity is borne down.
