James Cleverly has slapped down claims that a reduction of small boat migrant crossings into Britain was merely a result of worse weather in 2023.
Government records yesterday showed that the 29,437 arrivals across the Channel last year were more than a third lower than the record set in 2022 of 45,774.
This morning the Home Secretary slapped down the BBC, after they implied this was more to do with weather than Government policy.
Breakfast presenter Jon Kay asked Mr Cleverly whether he would also accept responsibility for any rise in numbers this year, “as maybe the weather improves in the weeks ahead”.
The Home Secretary said crediting the weather with the one-third fall in crossings was a “convenient way of overlooking the incredibly hard work our officials have done with their colleagues across Europe – this is not about the weather”.
He pointed out that the number of “good sailing days” in 2023 was just four fewer than the previous year which saw record numbers crossing – 102 to 106 – adding once again that the weather “was not a contributory factor”.
Mr Cleverly argued the 36 percent reduction is because of cooperation with European partners such as France, Albania, Romania, Germany and others, as well as disrupting supply chains of engines and boats, and going after the money of people smugglers.
He also argued that at the same time, Britain has seen the welcome reduction, Europe itself has seen an 80 percent increase in illegal migrants arriving on its shores.
The Home Secretary described the UK as a “positive outlier” therefore, because of the Government’s hardline actions.
Mr Cleverly was also keen to champion the news that he and Rishi Sunak had achieved the Government’s target of clearing Britain’s legacy asylum backlog of applications made before June 28, 2022.
The successful clearing of the legacy backlog means 92,000 cases were dealt with.
Some 112,000 asylum applications were dealt with in total by the Home Office last year, making it the highest number since 2002 over 20 years ago.
Just 4,500 of the 92,000 legacy cases remain unresolved, due to discrepancies, age disputes or security concerns and further work remains ongoing.
A total of 17,000 cases have also been classed as being “withdrawn”, meaning the applicant has gone missing or failed to turn up for an appointment.
Despite concerns about the size of this number, Mr Cleverly said withdrawn cases mean they then lose their right to continue with the application process.
He said: “A number of them will have voluntarily left, and we’ve seen voluntary returns up by two-thirds.
“But a number of them will have tried to slip into the illicit economy, and we go looking for them.”
As a result of this, deportations are now also up by two-thirds, which Mr Cleverly said is proof the Government is “dealing with this issue”.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said clearing the legacy backlog “is a promise kept” by the Government, but said Mr Sunak must still “do more”.
