During a 24-hour period on Friday July 30th, 460 illegal migrants crossed the English Channel in 12 boats, according to figures released by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday.
The MoD had failed to detect any “uncontrolled landings”, which may suggest that some slipped through the net.
In the last 12 months alone 70% of the individuals who have come to our country illegally via small boats are single men, who are effectively economic migrants. They are not genuine asylum seekers.
According to a recent poll* commissioned by London based think-tank Migration Watch UK:
- 60% of the public wish to see the number of immigrants coming to the UK reduced, with 34% saying they want it reduced by a lot
- 73% of Conservative voters favour a reduction in immigration, with 49% saying they want a reduction by a lot
- Of those who voted Conservative in 2019 but who no longer support the party, the number in favour of a reduction is 86%
- 47% of respondents said that the increase of seven million in Britain’s population due to immigration over the last 20 years was fairly negative or very negative. Only 28% thought it fairly or very positive
- Out of Conservative voters, 40% wanted a substantial reduction in net migration, 19% wanted a target of tens of thousands, while 18% wanted a commitment to stop all immigration to the UK. In all, 77%.
However, official figures more than 1,000 people have made the crossing in the last week.
This month, 3,683 people have crossed from France, bringing the total so far this year to 16,399.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel appears unable to stem the tide, despite her promises to put a halt to all cross-channel illegal immigration. Her interventions (and financial payments) to the French authorities – who appear keen to push the migrants across the Channel as quickly as possible – have come to naught. Likewise her much-vaunted deportations by air to Rwanda.
* Deltapoll interviewed 1,480 British adults online between 14th and 19th July 2022. The data have been weighted to be representative of the British adult population as a whole.
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