Double the number of migrants could cross Channel this year, Patel is warned

PRITI PATEL has been warned privately that as many as 65,000 migrants could cross the Channel this year, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The figure – more than double the record 28,300 last year – has been put forward by officials as the worst case scenario, as the military yesterday began preparing to take control of stemming the surge across the Channel.

“It is not an estimate or a forecast, it is a planning assumption,” said a Whitehall source. “In part, it demonstrates exactly why we are taking the measures that we are and looking at things like offshoring [the processing of Channel migrants] and outsourcing [operations in the Channel to the military.]”

Tony Smith, the former director general of Border Force, told The Telegraph the projections of more than 60,000 were “not unreasonable”.

He said: “As air and ferry traffic return to pre-covid levels, we can expect more attempts to enter illegally and claim asylum on other routes. Potentially, annual asylum intake [combined] could challenge the previous record of over 100,000 per year in 2002.”

The Home Secretary yesterday publicly confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces are ready to deploy naval ships, boats and surveillance technology to bolster the Border Force, which has just five cutters. Ms Patel said: “I think the British public will support the Government that we should do everything possible to protect our borders.”

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said Labour would back any “sensible” measures to save lives but, without any detail on the plans, refused to support military involvement. It is understood the Navy is likely to have a coordinating role to bring together Border Force, coastguard and RNLI and provide extra surveillance while the Army may be used to transport and help accommodate migrants.

The Border Force union, however, warned that the Navy was likely to be unable to deploy the pushback tactics under which jet skis block and redirect migrants’ boats back towards France. Lucy Moreton, professional officer for the Immigration Services Union, said: “As long as the French say they are not playing, Border Force and the military are in the same position.”

Lord West, the former First Sea Lord, said deploying the Navy would mean fewer migrants dying in the water but would not “make any difference” in stopping more crossing.