Border Force is under growing pressure to change its tactics in the Channel after being accused of “conspiring” with the French to “facilitate mass illegal immigration”. Fury is mounting over British vessels still “acting as a taxi service” after years of small boat crossings.
In an escalation of language, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Paris must start “forcefully intercepting” boats as they leave the French coast. And he blasted the UK authorities after a shocking audio clip revealed the level of co-operation between the British and French on the Channel. The French navy vessel contacted its British counterpart, believed to be Border Force Volunteer, during one crossing on Saturday and stated: “Good morning, I’m calling just to tell you information from a dinghy.
“There are approximately 25 people on board. Approximately 90% with life jackets and floatability, and integrity is good.”
An officer on the British vessel then responds: “We will be moving in shortly, we’ll just let them come a little bit further, just so we don’t cross the line during the rescue.”
More than 36,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, heaping huge pressure on ministers after their repeated promises to “smash the gangs”.
France agreed earlier this year to begin intercepting migrant boats at sea.
But the French are yet to enact the new doctrine, despite many within Whitehall believing it was due to come into force over the summer.
Sources within Government have repeatedly expressed frustration over the lack of action.
And Mr Philp slammed Border Force’s role in the crisis. He said: “It is outrageous that Border Force and the French authorities are conspiring together to facilitate mass illegal immigration.
“The French should not be shepherding these boats into UK waters, and Border Force should not be acting as a taxi service for illegal immigrants.
“To add insult to injury, the French are even recycling lifejackets for use by the next batch of illegal immigrants. The French should keep their promise and start forcefully intercepting these boats near French shores.
“The UK Government should urgently adopt Conservative plans and come out of the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights], which will enable all illegal immigrants to be deported within a week of arrival. Pretty soon, the crossings would stop.
“But Labour is too weak to do this, and that is why this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal Channel crossings.”
Anger is also rising in northern France, with an ally of the French interior minister Bruno Retailleau suggesting French police just let migrants freely cross the Channel.
Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, claimed Paris is “guarding the border” for Britain and said the UK is as responsible for the small boats crisis as the people smugglers.
Despite Britain agreeing to hand over more than £660million to stop migrants leaving their shores, Mr Bertrand claimed “we’re practically forced to beg them to give us part of the cheque they owe us”.
In fresh incendiary comments, the French politician declared: “We should tell the Border Force: ‘This week, stay at home, we don’t want to see you and we’re going to let everyone through.
“Then you’ll see what happens. The English will get scared, and in two days they’ll sit down at the table with proposals to change things. Right now, we’re practically forced to beg them to give us part of the cheque they owe us simply because we’re guarding the border for them. That’s enough.
“Let the migrants through. My proposal isn’t very clever. But it’s the only one that can change things.”
Mr Bertrand also claimed France was indifferent to the fact that “people are dying every week”, adding: “Very clearly, we know who is primarily responsible: the smugglers, the criminals who exploit these networks.
“The second party responsible is the British. Because there wouldn’t be these deaths, there wouldn’t be hundreds of people trying to cross every week, if they didn’t have jobs in Britain.”
Mr Bertrand said he held Britain, along with people-smugglers, responsible for deaths in the Channel because of the UK’s “hypocrisy” over its stance on the black market economy.
He said: “The British say, ‘now we’re going to set up a legal immigration channel. That means we’re going to accept them legally and then send them back to France’.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “While it is a longstanding position that we do not comment upon operational matters, these are completely inaccurate claims.
“We work closely with the French to dismantle criminal networks behind this vile trade. More than 19,000 crossings attempts have been prevented by the French so far this year, and flights are under way under our groundbreaking deal to return small boat arrivals back to France. Make no mistake – we will do whatever it takes to secure our borders.”