BOATS THAT FLOCKED
More than 100,000 illegal migrants arrive on small boats in last five years – equivalent to town size of Rochdale
MORE than 100,000 illegal migrants have now arrived on small boats - equivalent to a town the size of Rochdale.
The milestone sparked anger from Tory MPs and ignited fresh calls for Rishi Sunak to quit the European Court of Human Rights.
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Around 750 people crossed the Channel today in 11 small boats to take the total since 2018 into six figures.
A staggering 60,000 illegal migrants hit British shores in the past 18 months alone despite repeated promises to stop the boats.
Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson exploded over the influx and called for “drastic measures” to grip the problem.
He said: “I’m very angry about the number. Again, very angry, as you know, every single day when I see these illegal migrants and let’s be clear on what they are.
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“They're illegal migrants. They're not genuine asylum seekers.”
The PM has staked his premiership on curbing boat crossings and is banking on the Supreme Court backing his Rwanda deportation scheme.
Many of his own ministers and MPs are now telling him to be prepared to leave the ECHR if that is what it takes to get flights to Kigali off the ground.
Backbench Brexit chief Mark Francois today piled in, telling the Sun: “The Government should never have accepted the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg court over this issue.
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“Just as we did over prisoner voting we should have told them it was none of their business and, until we do, the boats will just keep coming.”
Warm weather brought more dinghies to Dover yesterday with the RNLI forced to help rescue them.
Nigel Farage claimed that a border force vessel had broken down and a drone had cracked into the sea.
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