Five months ago, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, promised a solution to the migrant crisis.
Sir Keir said: “This is our plan together, hardheaded, aggressive action on all fronts to break the gangs business model, secure our borders and show that by attempting to reach the UK by small boat will only end in failure, detention and return.”
The scheme was doomed to fail from the start, and today we learn of its latest failure.
Since the scheme began, more illegal migrants have arrived than have been removed.
Under it, 350 have arrived and 281 have been deported. Since the botched deal came into force in mid September, more than 10,000 migrants have crossed in small boats.
Ministers will tell you that it’s early days, that we need to give the scheme time, that it’s in its pilot phase. Piloting across the channel, I think.
It has to be said Nick Ferrari is a brilliant interviewer. Anyway, the deal is not working. Even the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has admitted there’s a problem.
Not enough people in France want to use the legal route and why would they, when the chances of staying in Britain after arriving illegally are so high?
Jacob Rees-Mogg shared his opinion on Labour’s one-in, one-out deal
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GB NEWS
We also know that some migrants sent back to France under the scheme have returned on small boats within weeks.
The Government promised a deterrent, but there is no deterrent.
Migrants returning the four-star accommodation and freebies remain and the Government’s failing to do anything about it.
France says the scheme would only return about 50 people a week anyway, which is meaningless when thousands are crossing every month and at odds with what we’re hearing from ministers in Britain.
BRITAIN’S MIGRANT CRISIS – READ MORE:
Shabana Mahmood made the startling admission yesterday morning
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PA
So why are both nations failing to solve the problem?
Well, it’s the European Convention on Human Rights. Whilst we remain under the yoke of the ECHR, everything is judged by the courts, decided, blocked by leftie lawyers.
As long as we stay in it, illegal migrants know they can come here illegally, apply for asylum, delay removal for reasons as absurd as chicken nuggets and then they get allowed to stay.
This gives the incentive, the pull factor. So the boats keep coming.
The criminal gangs that the Reverend Starmer promised to smash keep making money and advertising the crossings.
They just aren’t willing to take the tough decisions, the decisive action that is needed to stop this, because it goes against what they think is higher law and a higher interest than that of the British people and law passed in Parliament, and that is their international obligations, which they have placed above their duty to the British people.
Instead, they give millions of pounds to the French for a deal that has failed.
So we have to leave the ECHR. It’s not a panacea, but it allows us then to choose the policies for ourselves, make policies ourselves that would deal with this problem.
Until we’ve left, nothing will change.