Up next in 10
UK-France deal will see just 'six per cent' of migrants returned across the Channel, Philp says
Jul 13, 2025
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has hit out at Labour's latest "gimmick" deal to tackle the migrant crisis, claiming the Rwanda scheme was handed to Sir Keir Starmer "on a plate".Speaking to GB News, Philp claimed that under the exchange deal with France, just "six per cent of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel will get sent back".FULL STORY HERE.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Mr Philp, lovely to see you this morning as ever
0:02
The Sunday Express front page quotes your former colleague David Jones, who's defected to reform, the latest Tory to do so
0:09
claiming that the migrant deal with France, quotes, won't stop a single boat. Do you agree with that ysis
0:17
Good morning, Camilla. Yes, I do, because under this so-called deal, it's really a bit of a gimmick in my view
0:24
only 6% of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel will get sent back to France
0:29
the other 94% will get to stay in the UK. And obviously, having 94% of illegal immigrants staying in the UK
0:36
will not act as any deterrent at all. It's another gimmick, just like Keir Starmer's smash-the-gang gimmick
0:43
a year or so ago, which you'll notice he never mentions any more, because so far this year we've seen record-ever numbers
0:50
of illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel, the highest number in history so far this year
0:55
and I'm afraid this so-called deal, this gimmick last week is going to make no difference to that whatsoever
1:02
Well, you say it's a gimmick. The Tories were constantly banging on about stopping the boats
1:06
and smashing the gangs and it must have been a gimmick when you were doing it
1:10
because you didn't do either, did you? Well not entirely Camilla So first of all in 2023 the calendar year that was their last full year in office we actually got the small boat numbers down by about 30 percent
1:24
So that was quite a big step in the right direction. And we then had the second step in the plan was to basically remove 100 percent of arrivals the minute their feet touched the shore using the Rwanda scheme
1:36
And obviously common sense tells you that if you've got a 100 percent or close to 100 percent chance of getting removed
1:43
then you're not going to bother attempting the crossing in the first place. Something very similar worked in Australia about 12 years ago
1:49
Now, that went through a whole load of legal challenges. We had to pass a new law through Parliament
1:54
It was ready to go last summer. It was ready to go at the end of July, just after the election
1:58
but it was handed to Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper on a plate. And what did they do
2:03
They cancelled it just a few days before it was due to start. And as a consequence, instead of continuing the downward trend
2:10
And immigration across the channel, illegal immigration, has surged by over 40% since the election
2:17
and it's now been the worst year in history, thanks to their ineptitude
2:22
Auro, there's an interesting expose in the Mail on Sunday entitled Boat Migrants Crazy Golf Trips On You
2:29
And this is talking about Kent County Council splurging all sorts of staggering sums including on Fortnum Mason goods Disney and Netflix subscriptions worth an Amazon bill of all apparently
2:46
according to Zia Yousef, that was ascribed to the asylum budget. I was reading the story
2:51
thinking, what is this nonsense? How could this have happened? And then I realised that
2:55
it must have happened under the Conservatives' watch, because before the last local elections
3:00
Wasn't Kent in control of the Conservatives? Yeah, well, I don't know when that expenditure was incurred
3:08
or whether it was paid by the Home Office. It could have happened after the last election. I don't know, because it's the Home Office that runs the asylum budget
3:14
But everything you just read out, Camilla, without question, is a total..
3:19
OK, well, the year to June of this year, that's obviously after the last general election. Yeah, but it's not..
3:24
Frankly, that is an outrageous waste of money. You were in charge until the locals, which were in May
3:30
So it's mostly on your watch? That was Kent County Council. The Home
3:35
Office runs the asylum budget and Labour have been running the Home
3:40
Office since July of last year. But frankly, whoever is responsible, that should obviously never have happened. That is absolutely
3:45
outrageous. I can tell you one thing, if I become Home Secretary, that nonsense will stop completely What did you make of Macron saying that Brits have been sold a lie on Brexit I mean to be fair the French president not wrong is he Boris Johnson kept on banging on about us taking back control of our borders
4:02
and then seemed intensely relaxed about mass migration. Well, I mean, first of all, I don't think politicians in any country
4:12
should denigrate the results of democratic elections, whether those are referenda or national elections
4:17
I think any politician of any colour and in any country should respect elections when they happen and respect the views of the public
4:26
And to say, oh, they made a mistake or all that kind of stuff, I think is actually damaging to democracy
4:31
So I think those words were not particularly well chosen. On the levels of legal migration in recent years, I've said it before, Camilla, I've said it to you, I'll say it again
4:41
They have been far, far too high under successive governments for very many years
4:46
What should that level be? They have been far, far too high. So, as we have discussed previously, we need to have a binding annual cap set by Parliament
4:55
I'm not going to stop asking you what the cap should be. We haven't announced the number yet
4:59
You keep asking, and we are going to come up with a number. It won't be this morning
5:04
We look forward to that. It will be at a far, far lower level than anything we have seen in recent years
5:08
because it has been far too high. We must end the era of mass, low-skilled migration
5:12
It has got to stop
#Government
#Visa & Immigration
#news
#Politics