‘Nonsensical!’ MP savages £80m ‘waste of money’ over migrant crossings
FORMER Member of the European Parliament Ben Habib has slammed the £80million paid by the UK Government to France over the last two years to prevent migrant crossings as a "waste of money".
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Brexit Watch chairman Mr Habib also noted that it made Boris Johnson and Priti Patel’s new policy of deporting those crossing the Channel seem “dodgy and nonsensical”.
Speaking to Mike Graham on TalkTV on Wednesday, Mr Habib expressed his frustration over the Government’s inability to follow through on its migrant crossing crackdown promises.
He said of the Rwanda policy: “I always felt it was a smoke and mirrors to distract from reality.
“The idea that we could send wholesale numbers of people coming across the Channel into the UK to Rwanda, I mean it just never really made sense to me.
“We’ve already seen that there are going to be challenges to it, it’s going to be months before this policy can even be implemented if it ever is implemented in a practical sense.
“It seems to me it was put out there as a pre-election sop to traditional Conservative voters.”
A Calais MP has admitted the £80 million Britain has paid France over the last two years to stop migrant crossings has been a waste of money.
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) May 4, 2022
Brexit Watch chairman Ben Habib: “It makes the new policy on deporting people to Rwanda look dodgy and nonsensical.”@iromg | @benhabib6 pic.twitter.com/JkreWnCZpo
Host Mike Graham countered this argument, as he pointed out that the Tories had said the day before the election that the policy could not be put in place for months.
Mr Habib continued: “The reality of the situation is now dawning, people are recognising that it’s going to be months for the various court processes to proceed.
“Really what they have to do is prevent the would-be migrants from coming onto UK shores in the first place before they get the benefit of the protection of British law.
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“We are absolutely entitled to prevent them from crossing into our waters and we should prevent them from doing so.
“It’s what I’ve always said, they should be, if necessary, escorted back to French coasts.
“Now we can’t take them on board our ships because the minute they come on board they get protection under UK law, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with us making it utterly clear that if they seek to cross into British waters they’ll be towed back into French waters and towed back all the way if necessary to the French coast.”
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Mr Graham argued that the Rwanda policy was “practical” and “workable” and questioned why the Government was dragging their heels in implementing it.
His guest also noted that the Rwandan Government was paid £120million upfront, which would have been unnecessary if the scheme was “genuinely viable and profitable” for the African nation.