Britain has lost control of its borders, admits defence secretary

The Defence Secretary has admitted Britain has “lost control of its borders” after nearly 1,200 migrants crossed the Channel in a single day, Report informs via The Telegraph.

John Healey described the scenes on Saturday as “shocking”, saying people smugglers were able to load small boats on French shores “like a taxi.”

The 1,000-plus arrivals marked the highest number of people to cross the Channel in a single day so far this year. Some 18 dinghies were reported to have left the French coast, each carrying more than 50 migrants.

The coastguard was forced to call on fishing boats to assist a yacht and a kayak that were in trouble, as Border Force vessels and lifeboats were overwhelmed rescuing people making the perilous journey.

Asked about the situation on Sunday, Mr Healey admitted that Britain had “lost control” of its borders.

He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “Pretty shocking, those scenes yesterday.

“Truth is, Britain’s lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.”

He blamed France for allowing smugglers to scoop up migrants like a “taxi” service after failing to change the rules to let police intervene in shallow waters, despite agreeing to do so.

“I think yesterday tells us a really big problem, which is, you’ve got French police unable to intervene and intercept the boats when they’re in shallow waters,” he said.

“That means we saw it. We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming around like a taxi to pick them up.”