Outcry as Downing Street insists: Our borders are strong
BRITAIN is “frighteningly complacent” over immigration, it was claimed yesterday.
The attack came after a Downing Street spokesman described Britain’s borders as “strong” despite shock figures on illegal arrivals.
In the past three years more than 27,000 people suspected of illegally entering the country have been arrested by police, totals obtained by the BBC revealed.
Detained
Arrests of those illegally entering the UK have steadily increased, from 7,700 in 2013 to 9,600 in 2015, the figures showed.
The figures do not include those detained at ports or airports, or those arrested after outstaying visas. They are dealt with by Border Force staff. Downing Street insisted however that border arrangements are working well.
A spokesman said: “Our borders are strong and we will continue to work to make sure they are strong.”
Ukip spokesman Steven Woolfe replied: “Like the previous government, the current government is frighteningly complacent over the state of our borders. It needs to get a grip.”
The row came as Home Secretary Amber Rudd held crunch talks with her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve in Paris over the growing crisis at the Jungle camp in Calais.
IN THE past three years more than 27,000 people have been arrested on suspicion of entering the country illegally. This of course represents only a fraction of the number attempting to cross our borders illicitly.
Even those who are caught have myriad ways of trying to stay in this country. All too often they are able to claim asylum using a spurious excuse, access housing and benefits and then eventually gain the right to stay for good. That is if they even bother to apply for refugee status. Others are released by the authorities, told to check in regularly and then disappear.
It is obvious that we need tougher border controls but we also need a more reliable system for deporting those who manage to make it here.