Andy Burnham was dealt a fresh blow as GB News issued an urgent migrant update.
Andy Burnham was blasted on GB News (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham was dealt a major blow as GB News issued a shocking migrant update that revealed a staggering 4,000 people are awaiting dinghies to cross the English Channel from France. This bombshell comes after Duncan Capps, the Border Security commander, stated that the number of asylum seekers in northern France is far bigger than usual. But prices for those hoping to reach Britain are believed to have dropped to as low as £840, which is among the lowest on record. During GB News, presenter Tom Harwood was joined by Former Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who condemned the government for not taking action.
She blasted: “The first way to look at it is that more migrants are coming, perhaps because of the incredible unrest in France. We’ve seen lots of Middle Eastern people, lots of immigrants; there’s rioting in France and burning stuff down. Maybe more of them are making their way to the border.
“The second, more charitable way to interpret it, is that the French police are actually stopping these people because there’s normally only 2,000 waiting, because 2,000 have gone through. So, maybe they’ve worked doubly hard to stop it.”
Ms Mensch stated: “Either way, most British people are going to say, this is completely unacceptable… President Trump, whether you like him or hate him, has shown the only viable way to stop illegal immigration is deportation to a third country that you have a treaty with, to stop it.”
The Tory MP called on the government to reinstate the controversial Rwanda scheme, which was introduced by the UK Conservative government in April 2022 under then-Prime minister Boris Johnson, before being scrapped in 2024 by former Prime minister Keir Starmer.
She suggested: “Surely, the greatest things for France and the United Kingdom is that we don’t put them in France and we don’t put them in Britain, we take them straight to a third country, Rwanda, which, as I say, is safe, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just hot, it’s unpleasant for them, it resembles the country of which they come from … and it solves a problem for both the French and the British.”
Addressing the migrant awaiting to cross, the Border Security commander revealed: “I think the French estimate at the moment is that there are almost 3,800 people between those two camps. Previously, it was broadly about 2,000 between them. So, our understanding now from our French partners we work with closely is almost double what we would normally expect.
Duncan continued: “There are a lot of people in the camps at the moment, which I think is bad in one respect because a lot of people are there, but it also represents the fact that the French are making it very difficult, particularly in the Dunkirk-Calais area, to get across.
“There is a moment with this from a criminal perspective where it stops being particularly viable. And part of our strategy is to drive it to a point where it is not worth them doing this because the cost of getting the boat, the engine, the risk of them being interdicted and jailed, is so much that actually they stop being in this business.”
This comes as Burnham vowed to change tactics to tackle gangs bringing migrants across the Channel after a record 230 people made the journey in a single boat in August.