Priti Patel, Home Secretary has cancelled her planned Paris trip to talk about the Channel Migrant Crisis so she can get briefed on what happened in Liverpool.
To be updated on the attack in Liverpool, the Home Secretary cancelled her planned Paris trip.
Priti Patel was due to meet her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin on Tuesday amid a bruising war of words following a surge of Channel crossings.
She cancelled her trip, apparently to be fully briefed about a suicide bombing at Liverpool Women’s Hospital which took place just before 11am Remembrance Sunday. MailOnline reached the Home Office to inquire about their position.
After an emergency COBRA meeting in Downing Street on Monday, UK’s terror risk level was increased to’severe. Following the Merseyside bombing, police and security officials informed the Prime Minister that another attack against British soil is now highly likely.
Boris Johnson, who spoke at the Covid press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, exhorted the nation to stay vigilant and described the explosion as a “stark reminder” of the dangers of terrorism.
MailOnline exclusively revealed that the Liverpool suicide bomber, Enzo Almeni, arrived in the UK from Iraq several years ago and converted from Islam to Christianity in 2017 at the cathedral it is believed he wanted to attack yesterday.
But Miss Patel’s decision not to leave Britain may worsen Parisian tensions. Emmanuel Macron’s government accused Britain of treating France like a punch ball’ as 1185 migrants crossed Channel last Thursday – exceeding the daily record of 853.
London has long accused Paris of failing to do enough to stop the crossings and threatened to withhold a £54million payment agreed earlier this year. France insists that they will be able to increase coastal patrols and intercept crossings with the help of this money.
In the midst of ongoing disputes over fishing rights, border rules and Northern Ireland’s sovereignty, there have been accusations of French inaction.
Downing Street said it is ‘wrong to conflate’ the issue of migrant crossings with other issues like Brexit and added: ‘This is about criminal gangs endangering lives.’
This escalated row was triggered by shocking photos that revealed Dunkirk’s New Jungle, which is where hundreds arrive every day.
Tents are crowded together in cramped tents at Grande Synthe camp with garbage and other debris scattered between. The setting provides little protection to migrants and appears to have been set up at an industrial facility.
Today saw more migrants cross the English Channel. Border Force boats brought in additional people to Dover, while Border Force patrol boats took them into the port. Reports have also surfaced that a jet ski recovered by the RNLI at sea was used in an attempt to cross the channel.
Grande Synthe, a migrant camp set up in 2012 on the border of Dunkirk is very close to favourite launch locations and is brutally run by armed traffickers.
Priti Patel would meet Gerald Darmanin from France on Tuesday, amid a fierce war of words.
They call it the New Jungle by migrants, after Calais’ shanty village that housed 8,000 called them. This was taken down several years ago by the French government.
Operation by police in the Jungle at Grande-Synthe, March. The camp was in its hundreds not in their thousands.
It is without electricity, and it is only possible to walk on the mud when it is raining. Too few toilets are available for the growing population. Hundreds arrive every day and food vans deliver once per day.
This year, the site was built on Dunkirk’s edge. It is near popular launch locations and is run brutally by armed traffickers. An African man was killed four times last week over the cost for a crossing.
The first Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s takeover have arrived, as have those slipping over the border between Belarus and Poland.
According to sources, they were driven there by British traffickers who drove cars bearing UK plates. Then, the car picked them up in Poland before making the 22-hour drive to northern France.
After the French government pulled down the shanty town Calais housing over 8,000 people, the migrants have named the camp “The New Jungle”.
Some claim that the French Coast’s lack of enforcement – where only 99 of the 1,284 migrants tried to enter the UK on Thursday – was part of a “Brexit Punishment Strategy” and is linked to row over fishing and Northern Ireland.
More than 23500 totals have been sent to British shores by the end of this year, nearly triple the 8400 that reached the country in 2020.
One source from the Government told The Times that the chances of France taking tougher measures are not good for ministers.
According to the source, they don’t believe the French will give them anything. They think that it’s only going to get worse, especially with the forthcoming elections. It’s part Macron’s Brexit Punishment Strategy.
According to a Home Office source, “We’re only part of the bigger issue surrounding the election, Northern Ireland, and fishing.” They won’t use French taxpayers’ funds ahead of the elections.
The new camp was established this year at the Dunkirk edge. It is located close to popular launch locations and is controlled ruthlessly in the hands of armed traffickers. A four-times gunman shot an African over the cost of crossing the border two weeks ago.
French police officers with guns are reluctant to go into the camp, fearing confrontations with traffickers. The French government is oblivious.
According to an insider, the French are aware of how terrible conditions exist. They deliberately create a hostile atmosphere so the migrants are tempted to flee and take to the Channel boats.
“It’s become a driving factor in reaching Britain, along with the dreams of British hotels and other benefits that aren’t offered by France.
Each day, hundreds of people arrive. A British Border Force ID card that he received five years ago from Birmingham helped one Afghan get on a French military aircraft out of Kabul. He said, “I want to return to the UK,” as he stood by the seashore.
Many are marched to the shores for night-time Channel crossings, which have been organized by traffickers. Source said that it was a military operation, which is run with brutality.
The camp has five zones. Some house different nationalities, another is for children and mothers – and there is a special one for the wealthiest, the VIP Zone, for migrants with at least £6,000.
According to the source, they are mainly Vietnamese, Chinese, and Albanians. They’re at the top of the line and receive the fastest boats and the most safety.
Other people are luckier. The French are home to many destitute Africans, who for decades have been living in France. They trade over the prices of their place on a small boat.
Johnson last week urged Macron to close the doors to migrants trying to cross dangerous Channels or enter French territory.
This month, the Home Office sent the first instalments of a £54million deal with France to fund beach patrols – but migrant numbers have since soared.
Miss Patel stated that the migrants crisis was a shared problem with France. However, Mr Macron’s government seems to be opposed to her pushback tactic of intercepting small boats and directing them to France.
“Last Week showed that we have to do more,” said the Home Secretary. It is my goal to be faster and more efficient, which is why this week I am meeting with Gerald Darmanin.
Border Force is refusing to accept requests for the pushback strategy. They cite objections like weather conditions and boats that were being intercepted.
Border guards are represented by the PCS Union. Last night they said that it is ready to pursue a judicial review of pushback tactics.
Kevin Mills spoke out to say that there were concerns about safety, and whether it was legal. Priti Patel will take the body from the water if someone else dies.
After the French government pulled down the shanty town Calais housing over 8,000 people, the migrants have named the camp “The New Jungle”.
An earlier in the month, border agents patrolled jet skis just off the coast from Kent.
It came as it emerged the outgoing head of Border Force, Paul Lincoln, described ‘bloody borders’ as ‘a pain in the bloody a***’ during a leaving speech.
However, Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: ‘Criminal gangs have been running rings around the French authorities for too long. France is attempting to put an end to people trafficking, stop the migration crisis and save lives in Channel.
Sir John Hayes, a former security minister, urged the government to continue with its pushback and “process all asylum requests offshore”. This was a dramatic effect of Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders, which was introduced in 2013.
Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP added that if they knew they would be immediately turned around and sent back home to France it would only take one week for it to stop.
Dan O’Mahoney of the Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Risk Commander stated: “Migrants put their lives at danger. It is crucial we do everything possible to prevent them. We also need to break the business model that criminal gangs exploit people.
Border Force officers were seen in Dover practicing pushback techniques, which involved the use of three jet skis to surround a boat with migrants and direct it towards France.
This tactic is only allowed in Channel sections that are at least 1.8 miles long. Commanders can agree to this procedure only if they can confirm that an French rescue or navy can transport the boat back.
Additional safety requirements must be adhered to, such as weather conditions and the number of migrants.
When similar tactics were being used in Australia and Greece, migrants attempted to leap overboard to get authorities to rescue them.