GET A GRIP, JAVID

CALL FOR SAFE ROUTE TO FREEDOM

BY BEN GLAZE HOME Secretary Sajid Javid was on his way home last night as criticism grew over his “Dad’s Army” handling of the Channel migrant crisis.

In the latest incident along the Kent coast, six Iranian men were found on a beach yesterday.

They apparently crossed the world’s busiest shipping lane in an inflatable boat from northern France.

Javid cut short his Christmas family holiday in South Africa following an outcry over the situation at the Strait of Dover.

Tory MP Rehman Chishti, who sits on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, blasted “a lack of leadership to get a grip on this issue”.

Charlie Elphicke, Tory MP for Dover and Deal, called for all five Border Force Cutters to be deployed in the Channel as a deterrent. Just one is there, with one each in the Mediterranean and Aegean.

Elphicke said: “This cannot be done on the cheap with the half-hearted, Dad’s Army-type set-up suggested by the Home Office in the past.”

Javid claimed he was keeping the number of vessels in the Channel “under close review” but claimed there was “no one easy answer”.

The Iranian men were handed over to immigration authorities.

It came after the toll of migrants plucked from the Channel since Christmas Day hit 94 over the weekend.

Javid is due back at his desk