Up next in 10
After Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp followed migrants to a dinghy live on air, LBC callers react to the Tory MPs actions.
0:00 | Chris Philp's ventures into the Channel
0:39 | Aasmah Mir questions what this adds to the debate
1:47 | Labour's Tom Hayes says he should focus on his own 'failures'
4:53 | Michael doesn't trust a word the government says
10:50 | Ash argues Chris Philp is 'stoking division'
12:55 | Andrew believes the Tory's actions are a 'stunt'
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0:00
So now actually in the water with the illegal immigrants. You see them here lining up to jump in a boat which we expect to arrive shortly one group here, all except one I think young men
0:13
And there's another group over here who seem to be predominantly from sub-saharan Africa
0:20
Do you support politicians like Chris Philp filming migrants leaving France in small boats
0:43
What is the point of it? Some of you saying it's performative. Some of you saying, no, actually, this is very important
0:50
to keep the focus on this issue. It exercises many of us
0:54
Many of us believe that this needs to be stopped completely. Others of us believe that these people need to be documented
1:03
and treated fairly and then processed quickly. So do you support politicians like Chris Philp
1:10
filming migrants leaving France in small boats? From my point of view, I'm not sure what it does
1:17
that the other agencies are not already doing. Because you have journalists, you have the authorities
1:27
you have the French, you have the Home Office, they're all documenting every single arrival
1:34
So what does it add? I don't know what it adds, but I can understand that Chris Philp might think
1:41
that he is perhaps uncovering stuff that doesn't reach the media. Are people like Chris Philp instrumental in shining a light on what is going on in France, on the coast, in any one given day
1:58
And is that a helpful thing to be doing? Do you support his action? Well, the data you were just reading out there is from the Home Office's website
2:06
And for the week directly before that, there had been no crossings in terms of boats or people
2:12
In fact, there was an interception of at least two boats. and this is of course when we've got this mega heat wave and we know that in hot weather you've
2:19
got far greater numbers of boats and people trying to cross i think what you're highlighting here is
2:24
that in response to the government's measures and the work that we're doing with france the smugglers
2:30
who are horrible criminal people i mean they're really really low of lowest of the low they're
2:35
adapting by trying to put more people into bigger boats and that really worries me not merely because
2:42
we potentially, if they're not intercepted, have more people coming across the channel. But we also have more people on the channel who are at risk of losing their life
2:50
And that's why it's so important the British and the French are working so closely to intercept
2:54
those boats. We've also got a situation here where the Shadow Home Secretary is trying to
2:59
shine a light on what he believes to be the most pernicious part of the asylum system
3:04
He's not talking, for instance, about the fact that we've got a closure of asylum hotels in our country from the peak of 400 as opened under Robert Jenrick and when he was a Conservative
3:12
Minister of the Conservative government down to 170 asylum hotels in fact in my own constituency
3:17
which was lumbered with three asylum hotels that are bad for everybody including the people living
3:23
within them and around the hotels we're seeing the announcement of the first closure of three hotels
3:28
with the other two set to close fairly soon and that's really important because we need to be
3:34
showing our constituents that not only are we stopping crossings, but we're closing hotels
3:38
So you said that Chris Phelps is shining a light on what he sees as the most pernicious bit of the system. Therefore, I'm actually just interested. I mean, if you don't want
3:45
to answer the question, that's fine. You don't have to. But do you think..
3:49
I wouldn't do it myself. I just don't think it's an appropriate way of trying to shine
3:53
a light on an issue No one is disputing here that the job continues that we have to keep upon bearing down on the small boat crossing attempts and closing hotels We having success on that and we have to keep adapting just as the smuggler gangs are adapting
4:10
But I guess what I say about Chris Phillips is you were in power. You had opportunities to take decisions which would have actually processed application claims when you stopped that
4:20
You had the opportunity to stop the opening of asylum hotels when you didn't
4:24
and ultimately the situation that we have been in is the inheritance that was left to us
4:29
We are bearing down on the issue that we inherited and we are having success
4:34
but clearly there's further to go. I personally don't think that it's a most helpful thing to be doing what Chris Phillip is doing
4:41
I think he could do a better job here of reflecting on the failures that he made in government
4:45
and coming up with concrete policy solutions. Unlikely, isn't it? It's going to help the government to do more
4:50
Tom Hayes. You live in hope, don't you? You live in hope. Let's speak to Michael, who is in Sunderland
4:54
Hi, Michael. Hiya. Thanks for taking the call. First of all, I would like the politicians of today
5:00
to be more concerned about our safety, the general public's safety. Never mind having to go out with other politicians
5:08
who's going over there saying what's happening, because it's the first duty of a government
5:13
to look after the own citizens. But anyway, I've only commented, because you mentioned it at the beginning there
5:20
Obviously, I've literally just seen, right, that Chris Phillips talking to the police in France
5:25
and they're being told not to intercept a boat with over 100 migrants getting on it
5:30
Now, it highlights that Labour's 600-odd million that we're giving them is not working
5:36
Why don't we just pay them? Evidence, every boat there slash, we'll give them a million pound
5:42
Otherwise, they're getting no money off us. They've just been talking for two hours
5:45
about if this country's got no money for social care and how they get their money from it
5:49
I mean, and that's on 600-odd million, but it's a start. In the hotels
5:54
it was labour. Tony Blair introduced the hotels and where I live in Sunderland
5:59
there's 3,000 houses have been taken over from people who've been moved from hotels. So the hotels
6:06
are going down but the people in HMOs have gone up. And not one of your commentators
6:12
including yourself picked him up on that. The hotels are going down
6:15
but the housing is going up where they're putting them on. In Sunderland there's
6:19
3,000 houses or with them migrants living in. And why... I mean, this is getting away from the subject a little bit, but..
6:29
I agree. Because he's in opposition, fair enough. But at least it's in the spotlight, isn't it
6:36
And he's doing great at the moment with £2 off buses and whatever he's been in
6:41
The main issue in this country will be them migrants coming over
6:45
I'm telling you. Whether it's one year, two years or three years. for 30 years
6:49
we haven't addressed the issue with care homes and look what's happened now
6:54
yes people are getting older and this like you know there's more people coming into the country but
6:58
what I'm getting at is as long as it keeps the spotlight on the government of the day
7:01
and I'm sick of this blame game we're inevitable I tell you what the government's
7:05
going to inevitable more problems than what I'm going to be able to leave my funds to inevitable
7:09
for me. Okay Michael hang on a second so I mean you think Chris Phillips doing a good
7:13
thing here but you know him and his government they were in charge
7:17
they were in power for 14 years and you say the problems got worse
7:21
over the last 30 years. Hang on a sec, 14 of those years
7:26
the Conservatives were in power and they didn't manage to fix this
7:31
I agree because nobody wanted to pick up on it. It's only since Nigel Farage has picked it up
7:36
in the last four or five years that it's become an issue to be truthful
7:40
All the politicians, listen where I live, right, I'm 60 odd. I've got my first 30 years of living in Finland
7:47
to the last 30 years of the area I was brought up in
7:51
which changed dynamically, where you only had two fruit and veg shops
7:56
when in the 70s, everybody had Sunday dinners, they didn't get out for lunch
7:59
There eight now Not fruit and veg but eight foreign in a stretch of Hang on hang on Sorry eight foreign what There eight foreign fruit and veg shops
8:11
because the dynamics has changed. And what's wrong with having foreign fruit and veg shops
8:16
I don't understand. What I'm getting at is because they don't interact with the area where we live in
8:21
I used to do my papers around there and I took my grandson out of the park, right
8:26
and he tries to interact with their kids to play with them, right, and they don't interact
8:31
And he's only six years old. So that's why I'm getting at it
8:36
Over the last 30 years, anybody in this country who's listening to this radio station
8:40
listen to the first 30 years of their lives, then look back at the last 30 or 10 or 15, whatever it is
8:46
I can only speak of me, where I live in Sunderland, how the dynamics have changed
8:50
And the children do not want it, or the parents of the children, because it's mainly the women who take the children to the parks
8:57
the husbands are not, right? And my grandson tries to go over and play with them
9:01
and they don't talk to them. They speak to the children in their language
9:05
not in English. Hang on, hang on. Okay, Michael, look, you make a point that many people recognise
9:10
that the difficulty here though is we're talking about small boat migrants, right
9:14
And those people that you're talking about, the demographic, most of them will probably be people
9:19
who are here legally. They're allowed in here legally. They're going to stay here
9:25
They're going to contribute in some way. Who knows? And I don't know exactly
9:29
what they're going to do, but they're going to contribute in some way. That's a different thing
9:34
We're talking about small boats migrants, right? Now, I don't know if you hired this
9:39
but I'm going to just read it out again, OK? Because, you know, Chris Philp is saying this French deal is rubbish
9:44
But the Home Office say, and just listen to this, the Home Secretary has signed a landmark new payment by results deal
9:50
with France to boost enforcement action on beaches. This builds on joint work that has already stopped
9:55
over 46,000 attempted crossings since the election. So you could argue that what Chris Philp is saying
10:04
that, oh, this deal's not working, it's not true, that it is working and it will work
10:09
I haven't seen any, but I've only seen one board being slashed
10:13
If there's 46,000 people that they have stopped coming over, wouldn't you think they'd have a film crew there
10:18
for all our tellies? And also all these people who are deporting
10:22
I've never seen one plane being slashed. I'm getting off Mr. Marlene
10:27
What, are you standing at the airport monitoring it? Of course you're not going to see that
10:31
I haven't seen that either. How do you know it's true? Because the Home Office say so
10:38
So you don't believe them? You don't believe the Home Office? I do not. I tell you what, anything the government tells me since COVID
10:43
and before that, I do not believe. If they told me no, it was Wednesday, at past three, I would not believe them
10:49
I'd go and check it. Ash in South Woodford. Hi, Ash. Hi, Azna
10:53
Yeah, I think my view and take on this is I think Chris Phelps is just trying to continue to stoke division in society
11:03
I think he would continue to phone and film if there was one migrant coming across in one boat
11:10
And then he will portray that as saying, look at that. Migrants are still coming across the boat
11:16
Government isn't doing anything to stop these migrants. And he will do anything to stoke that division
11:23
That's what the purpose of this is. Because actually, if you look at a lot of the other statistics
11:29
as the previous caller just said, we haven't seen any of the French policemen slashing boats
11:35
Of course you're not going to see that. Chris Films isn't going to film that
11:40
He's not going to promote that. This is only what he wants to show
11:44
which he thinks his electoral base wants to hear. Or you could say, Ash, that he went on a particular day
11:50
and that's what was happening on that particular day, because earlier on I talked about, I read a statistic when I was talking to the Labour MP
11:58
and I said there were 881 small boat crossings in the last week and he said yes but the week before that there were zero So sometimes you just reporting on what is happening on that day It may be It just what is happening But he could easily have gone a week later and not seen anyone
12:17
but he wouldn't report on that. Well, he went on... He wouldn't report on that
12:23
Well, maybe. You know, that wouldn't portray what he's trying to stoke that division
12:29
That's the problem with what he's trying to do. You know, if he's giving us a balanced opinion of what actually is happening, perhaps filming over four weeks continuously and seeing every day how many boats are coming across, then perhaps we may take that into consideration
12:46
But if he's filming on one day, we don't know when exactly that date was or whatever
12:52
If he's just filming that one day, it doesn't really say anything. Andrew is in Beverley, in East Yorkshire. Andrew, do you support this
12:59
yes hi thanks for taking my call welcome um i listened to probably a couple of calls ago
13:07
and an answer yes i do support it but there was a caller who talked about oh we're never going to
13:15
see them slashing boats well i remember there was a headline and it was all over the headlines
13:22
when the French did slash a boat. And it struck me that it just fell in line
13:28
with when President Macron was coming over about three days later for a state visit
13:34
It's all staged. Do I think Chris Phelps has gone over there
13:38
and just got lucky that 40 migrants are trying to get over on a small boat
13:44
No, I don't. I don't think there's any real incentive for the French to stop people from crossing in boats
13:53
Okay. This money... Can I just, you know, I'll let you make your point
13:57
I just wanted to say, you know, you say there's no incentive. This week, okay, it was 881 people made the journey by a small boat
14:05
but I was told by the Labour MP and I checked in, it's true, the week before there were none
14:09
So it must be working sometimes. If it wasn't working, wouldn't there be 800 every week
14:16
Is that what we're spotting? Are we saying that every small boat that comes across, we are intercepting
14:25
Well, I don't know. I would think most of them, yes. Let's assume that most of them are
14:32
Or are the people smugglers getting a bit cute to the fact that if every boat is stopped
14:39
or is that actually achieving what the the person getting on the boat wants to see happen
14:47
they want safe passage as much as possible don't they so if they are intercepted the next thing is
14:54
that they're going to go in claim asylum and i agree with the guy i think it was from sondland
15:00
i wouldn't necessarily agree with him that you know if a politician said it was wednesday
15:05
I'd have to check my diary. But I think the idea that they have deported 70,000 people in the last 12 months, two years, whatever it might be
15:15
Yeah, two years. I am not quite sure that those 70,000 people, if they have, have been failed asylum seekers
15:24
It wouldn't surprise me if people have been deported who've come over as families of university students, etc
15:32
So I think there's a complete disparity between what the government are telling us and what we're actually seeing
15:41
Do I think boat crossings seem to have gone down? Sure, they seem to have gone down
15:47
But I'm not entirely sure we're intercepting. I think it's almost impossible to intercept them all
15:55
So Chris Philips just flagging this up. Yeah, he's just doing that. It's a stunt
15:59
it's a stunt but it's actually saying this is not working he's a guy who's been in France
16:06
for two days and all of a sudden he's on a beach, there's no French police
16:10
around him is there
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