Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has condemned Labour’s immigration policies as a “complete farce” after it was revealed a charity is distributing guides to help migrants avoid deportation.
The Conservative MP’s fury centres on Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD), a human rights organisation that has published detailed instructions enabling detained migrants to challenge their removal to France.
The charity, which has received over £400,000 from Comic Relief and enjoys charitable tax relief, produced a 12-page document in August offering legal strategies and template letters for asylum seekers facing deportation.
Chris Philp told GB News: “What we need to do is make sure that every single person who crosses the English Channel illegally gets removed immediately, without any messing around in the courts.
Chris Philp unleashed a furious rant at Labour’s ‘latest gimmick’
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GB NEWS
“If every single person or virtually every single person were rapidly removed, either to their country of origin if possible, or to a safe third location like Rwanda, pretty soon they would stop crossing altogether.
“This new gimmick deal that Labour have with France is not only mired in legal challenges, but nobody was removed on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday this week.
“One person was removed today. So it’s not really working. Even if they managed to do what they set out to do, which is remove 50 people a week, that would only cover about six per cent of arrivals, leaving 94 per cent of people who cross the Channel illegally in the UK, obviously no deterrent at all.
“Their scheme is a ludicrous gimmick. We need to remove everybody.
“We had a plan to do that, which Labour very stupidly cancelled just after the election, only a couple of weeks before the first plane was due to take off.
“Labour had no replacement plan, and as a result, numbers have surged. So far this year has been the worst in history for illegal migrants crossing the Channel.”
The Government’s returns programme has struggled to gain momentum, with deportation flights cancelled on three consecutive days earlier this week due to legal challenges.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood acknowledged that migrants were “making a mockery” of Britain’s laws through last-minute appeals against removal.
After multiple setbacks, authorities managed their first successful deportation under the scheme on Thursday morning.
LATEST MIGRANT CRISIS NEWS:
The Government’s returns programme has struggled to gain momentum
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GettyAn Indian national boarded an Air France flight to Paris, marking the inaugural removal under the UK-France agreement.
“This is an important first step to securing our borders,” Ms Mahmood stated, while pledging to combat “vexatious, last-minute claims” that have disrupted the programme.
The single deportation followed interventions for 40 of 100 asylum seekers detained in August, highlighting the scheme’s vulnerability to legal challenges.