Calais accused of stoking tensions with ‘declaration of war’ claim

SENDING the Royal Navy into the English Channel to deal with migrant crossings is a “declaration of maritime war”, the mayor of Calais has said.

Natacha Bouchart said the British Government needed to take responsibility for the worsening migrant situation as she lambasted the Home Office’s formal request for military assistance to help tackle the crisis.

“It is a declaration of maritime war,” she said.

Ms Bouchart accused the British of “contenting themselves with giving lessons and by subjecting Calaisians to this situation for too long”.

She added that her city should not have to continue to suffer economically and in terms of image and humanitarian reception.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said Ms Bouchart’s comments were “ridiculous”, while Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence select committee, accused her of using “irresponsible language”.

“Let’s stay focused on increasing Anglo-french collaboration to solve the problem, not ratcheting up tensions with dramatic statements,” he said.

A Home Office source told The Daily Telegraph: “Stopping migrants making dangerous crossing is the opposite of war, it’s about saving people’s lives.”

It comes as the RAF provided aerial support to the UK Border Force yesterday for the second time this week, with a Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flying from Kinloss Barracks in Scotland to monitor the situation in the Channel.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, also authorised the use of the Shadow R1 aircraft.

Both the P-8 Poseidon and the Shadow R1 will provide support “over the coming weeks subject to weather conditions and the Border Force’s requirements”, the MOD confirmed.

The Telegraph understands that the two aircraft are designed to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance as their primary function, whereas the Atlas A400M aircraft, which was deployed on Monday, was used because it was on standby and able to conduct the surveillance at that moment in time.

Meanwhile, in a crackdown by the Home Office, a charter flight took 14

‘Let’s stay focused on increasing Anglo-french collaboration to solve the problem’

migrants to France and Germany after the department found that they had already claimed asylum in one of the two EU states in the past and prior to coming to the UK.

A total of 20 migrants were due to be deported, however, changes at the last minute prevented the rest from joining.

It comes as the 40-strong Common Sense Group, made up of Tory MPS and Peers, called on Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, during a Zoom meeting to “bring in legislation to fix the broken asylum system”.

It is understood those present at the meeting offered her and Chris Philp, the immigration minister, “assurance that there was absolute support across the party for radical, urgent action to address this”.