Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has launched a scathing attack on Labour’s approach to Channel crossings, demanding immediate action to turn back migrant boats following a surge in arrivals over the festive period.
Speaking to GB News, Anderson expressed his fury over recent crossings, stating: “I am sick to death – we’ve seen it over Christmas, 1,500 illegal migrants, young males coming into this country. It makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.”
Anderson insisted that boats should be returned to France on “the same day” they attempt the crossing.
The Reform MP claimed this tough approach had proven successful previously, telling GB News: “We saw it a few months back, where actually we did turn the boat back in the English Channel, it went back to France the same day.”
Lee Anderson expressed his outrage at the surge of Channel migrant crossings over the Christmas period
GB News / PA
New figures have shown Channel crossings surged by 25 per cent in 2024, with 36,816 people making the perilous journey compared to 29,437 in 2023.
The final crossings of the year occurred on December 29, when 291 people arrived in six boats from France.
Anderson dismissed Labour’s recent efforts to tackle people smuggling, calling their approach “a load of nonsense.”
“They’re getting put straight into hotels, and we heard the Labour Party bleating on about smashing the gangs, and they’ve arrested somebody who supplies the boats – what a load of nonsense that is,” he told GB News.
The Home Office has claimed it will monitor migrant boats attempting to cross the English Channel using spy satellites (not pictured)
GB News/Getty/PA
The Reform UK MP insisted that only immediate returns would prove effective as a deterrent.
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“Nobody in this country, apart from the wets, but nobody lies awake at night time, worrying about what the French will say. Turn these men back and they will stop coming,” he said.
Anderson reiterated Reform UK’s position on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), noting that Deputy Leader Richard Tice had spoken about this “many, many times.”
He concluded: “It’s time to turn these these young men back the same day, that’s the only way you’ll stop them coming is with a deterrent.”
The surge in crossings comes during what has been recorded as the deadliest year for Channel crossings, with 53 people losing their lives during attempts to reach the UK in 2024.
Anderson told GB News that small boats making the crossing should be turned back to France ‘the same day’
GB News
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has stated the Government has a moral responsibility to tackle the crossings but has declined to set a deadline for reducing numbers.
Cooper has emphasised the need to target criminal gangs behind the crossings, while appearing to rule out creating additional safe and legal routes for asylum seekers.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has placed international cooperation with European law enforcement agencies at the centre of his strategy to reduce arrivals.
The National Crime Agency is currently leading approximately 70 live investigations into organised immigration crime and human trafficking.
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