‘Bit of a cheek’... Minister sparks fresh migrant row
A HOME Office minister triggered a row yesterday after criticising migrants who enter the UK illegally and then complain about their treatment.
Chris Philp said it was “a bit of a cheek” but was slated by fellow politicians.
The remark came after Home Secretary Suella Braverman toured immigration centres as she battles to tackle the escalating migrant crisis.
And Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he had a “very friendly” but “very frank” conversation with Albanian premier Edi Rama yesterday over the numbers of migrants trying to reach Britain.
The Manston processing site in Kent has come in for harsh criticism.
The processing facility is designed to hold 1,600 people for 24 hours before they are found accommodation elsewhere.
Up to 4,000 have been kept there at any one time in recent weeks, though the number has fallen to around 2,600.
Policing minister Mr Philp, below, had said Manston was “legally compliant”, days after immigration minister Robert Jenrick suggested it wasn’t.
Compassion
He later said: “If people choose to enter a country illegally, and unnecessarily, it’s a bit of a cheek to then start complaining about the conditions.
“And you don’t even have to come here. They were in France already and previously often passed through Belgium, Germany and many other countries on the way.” Asked about Mr Philp’s remarks, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “As we’ve been clear, those individuals deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. “Obviously, the current approach is not working and it is placing huge pressures, and that is presenting challenges.”
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said it is not a “cheek” to say children should be “treated humanely”. And the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said Mr Philp’s comments “reveal a shocking and callous complacency over the “disaster” at Manston”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Secretary has taken urgent decisions to alleviate issues at Manston using all the legal powers available and sourcing alternative accommodation.”
Mr Cleverly said he had discussed the issues with Mr Rama. He said: “We spoke about the very significant number of Albanians putting themselves at risk in the hands of people-traffickers.”
Ms Braverman channelled former home secretary Theresa May yesterday as she wore a pair of dazzling leopard print heels to work, similar to those favoured by the ex-PM. She had first emerged from her home in flats, before quickly changing into the more glamorous shoes.