10 Jul MACRON COULD STOP THE SMALL BOATS ‘TOMORROW’ IF HE WANTED TO, SAYS ROBERT JENRICK
PRESIDENT Macron could stop small boats crossing the Channel “tomorrow” if he wanted to, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has claimed.
Speaking to GB News, he said: “It’s important that we have good relations with our nearest neighbour, France, but I think Macron and the French could be doing so much more to help us.
“If they wanted, they could stop the small boats, frankly, tomorrow, if they got their gendarmes out on the beaches, into the shallow waters, turning back the boats, as some of our other neighbours do, like the Belgians, for example.
“But I don’t think we should just be leaving this to the kindness of strangers. We’ve got to have our own sovereign deterrent.
“That’s why I was a proponent of Rwanda. That’s why I feel we have to have a very simple system of our own that does not rely on anyone else, which is, if you come here illegally, you’re detained and you’re deported back home to your own country or to a safe third country in hours and days, not months and years.
“We should also be tackling the pull factors to the UK. You should not be able to work in the black market. That’s why we’ve got to stop all of those Uber and Deliveroo drivers who have no legal right to be working in the UK.
“That’s why, frankly, we should not be housing illegal migrants in hotels, living the life of Riley, when they should be in detained accommodation and then sent back home as quickly as possible.
“But the absolute heart of the issue is not what happens when you’re here, it’s that you should never be allowed to stay in the UK, and you should be removed as quickly as possible so you don’t get a foothold in the UK.”
He added: “We don’t know exactly what this potential deal is that is being discussed between the government and President Macron. We’re going have to wait and see what the details of that actually are.
“If it is true that the Prime Minister is proposing some kind of deterrent, then that’s great that he’s had a Damascene conversion.
“Because it was not so long ago that he was scrapping Rwanda, and the Rwanda scheme was by far and away the best option to create a proper deterrent, break the business model of the people smuggling gangs. That is what we actually need.
“We’ll wait and see whatever is proposed, whether that happens. We’ve been led up this path before by President Macron, and he’s not fulfilled his promises in the past.
“We’ve spent £800 million in recent times trying to persuade the French to actually do something on the beaches. So let’s wait and see what happens.
“But it clearly would be much better if we the United Kingdom, came up with our own sovereign deterrent, whether it’s Rwanda or another scheme, and one which actually got on and detained people, removed them as swiftly as possible when they arrived here in the UK.”
