A record number of migrants arrived in the UK yesterday as over 1,000 made it to our shores.
Five lifeboats and four Border Force vessels escorted groups to Dover as a period of calm and mild weather made the journey less risky.
Whitehall is said to be furious with the situation and accused President Macron of “giving in to the people smugglers”. The President is said to have said “je ne sais pas!”.
After yesterdays bulk arrivals, the figure for this year is almost 24,000 – close to three times as many as in 2020. On Wednesday, UK authorities intercepted or rescued 695 people from 22 boats, while French officials stopped just 255 from seven vessels. This is not a small flow of people, this has become a full invasion.
France has been accused of ‘ceding sovereign territory to people smugglers’
Many are calling for a statement from UK Home Secretary Priti Patel. She has said that she will tackle the problem and speak to France, but today, it would appear she has lost the fight and is looking quite useless in the face of this battle.
The French government promised to stop migrants leaving French beaches through increased patrols in return for £54 million from the UK. The UK has started paying £54million in smaller chunks to France to help fund them holding back the migrants.
The total for November so far has passed 3,500, compared with 757 over the same period last year and we are only up to the 11th!
Border Force chiefs had been planning for just 2,000 crossings over the whole of the month but that number has been blitzed by the calm weather.
