A move to house more asylum seekers in Army barracks rather than hotels is to be considered by a cross-government taskforce on deterring migrants from crossing the Channel.
Cabinet Office minister Stephen Barclay will chair the first meeting of the initiative early this week in a bid to address the crisis.
Craig Mackinlay, Conservative MP for South Thanet, said the Government’s failure to grip the problem was “a key issue on the doorstep” adding that “it looks like state failure” which will cost it votes. “We have got to stop the viability of the route,” he told the BBC’s World At One.
He added: “We should perhaps be returning straight back to France those who have made it to the British shores because at the end of the day that was the deal that was done with France.”
The taskforce is also expected to consider whether migrants’ benefits could be cut, if return agreements can be strengthened and look again at “offshoring” migrants to third countries while their claims are processed.
Over 24,700 migrants have made the illegal journey in small boats across the English Channel this year, nearly triple the number that arrived last year. More than 1,000 have crossed in a single day twice in the past fortnight.
One Government source: “It is about bringing other departments in and seeing what levers they can pull. The only people coming up with plans is the Home Secretary so far, now we are hoping everyone else can help out.”
Another source said: “The Prime Minister is very frustrated by the small boats, and the fact that numbers are increasing rapidly.”
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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