Javid leaves one boat to patrol all of fishing seas
MISSION For HMS Tyne SAJID Javid’s decision to “borrow” a Navy ship to tackle asylum seekers in the Channel has left England with one vessel to patrol 80,000 square miles of fishing waters.
Two Royal Navy River class ships, HMS Mersey and HMS Tyne, make up the Fishery Protection Squadron, which detects foreign trawlers illegally fishing in our waters.
But the Home Secretary took HMS Mersey to patrol the Channel at a cost of around £20,000 a day.
PATROL
Public Accounts Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier branded the deployment “an incredibly expensive sledgehammer to crack a nut”.
And Catherine Stihler, Labour MEP, said: “The UK’s patrol vessels play a key role in protecting our fisheries.”
Sajid Javid defended his decision to declare the situation in the Channel a “major incident” last week. He said: “There has been a significant increase in the number of crossings.”
■ A man was arrested on suspicion of trafficking eight asylum seekers into the UK after a dinghy was found in Dungeness, Kent. A TAXPAYER-FUNDED test of road capacity after Brexit was branded a “farce” as just 89 trucks turned up.
Drivers were paid almost £50,000 to assemble a convoy yesterday at the disused Manston Airport, Kent, which could be turned into a lorry park if there is no deal on March 29. The trucks were moved 20 miles to the Port of Dover to test travel times. Campaigners mocked the convoy on the A256, which included a council bin lorry.
A letter had appealed for “100 to 150” vehicles to take part, with each driver paid £550.
Dover is said to handle 10,000
MAIDSTONE
1 M20 between J8 and J9 will be for lorry parking, with contraflow for other traffic lorries a day at busy times. AntiBrexit Labour MP Stephen Doughty described it as “more extraordinary incompetence” by the Government.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, of the anti-Brexit Best For Britain, said the exercise was “plain stupid”.
A No10 official said it was “satisfied” with the test. 2 If M20 parking fills up, lorries will be diverted to Manston airfield
ASHFORD
Convoy on A256 yesterday
MANSTON AIRFIELD