The former Director General of UK Border Force has hailed GB News for telling Britons "what's really going on in the Channel" as 550 more migrants have entered the country illegally today.
Speaking to host Christopher Hope, Tony Smith heaped praise on the People's Channel for the "expert" analysis by Home and Security Editor Mark White.
Reacting to Mark's latest report on today's migrant crossings, Mr Smith told Christopher: "My message to your viewers and listeners is follow Mark White and follow GB News if you want to know what's really going on in the Channel.
"He is an expert and he's been following this, as have the rest of your reporters, to be fair."
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Criticising the Government for reporting that there has been "28 days of no crossings" thanks to Labour policy, Mr Smith said: "Of course, this is the weather. And we've been lucky, really, in that we've had a four-week window where the weather was so bad in the Channel that the migrants simply couldn't get the dinghies across.
"But I knew it was the weather, Mark knew it was the weather, but quite a few people want to try and suggest that Government policies in this area are beginning to bite, and the smugglers have been put off. They were wrong, it was the weather."
Noting that today's window for the 550 migrants to cross was "small", he explained: "It's a very small weather window actually today, only about 12 hours that enabled it. And it just shows that they are prepared to try this even when the weather is variable, and that really worries me.
"And that should worry everybody, regardless of your politics on this. People are going to die, people are going to drown, and the smugglers will get increasingly desperate to get people across here. So it's even more of an imperative that we do need to try and do our utmost to stop the boats."
Tony Smith hailed GB News and Mark White for reporting the 'truth' about Channel crossings
|GB NEWS
Asked by Christopher if the weather block on Channel crossings meant there was an "uptick in crossings via the Channel Tunnel and ferries on lorries", Mr Smith was doubtful.
He told GB News: "We don't know that yet, there hasn't been any real evidence that that's happened because the main egress route right now is across the Channel. There are still people coming in lorries, to a smaller extent.
"But the controls that we have in the ports of Calais and Dunkirk that we've had some time now are pretty good, in that we have got pretty secure ports and we do search lorries on the French side.
"And of course they can't claim asylum if they come via that route, so I don't think that this has suddenly shifted and diverted to other routes."
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GB News Home and Security Editor Mark White revealed that 550 migrants crossed the Channel today
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Criticising the French authorities for "not doing a good job" in stopping small boat crossings, the ex-Border Force Director General said: "Not to say people aren't coming in by other routes, but I do think that the major weapon now being used, has been for some years now, has been these small boat crossings.
"Because we don't have the authorities in the Border Force to stop them launching from French beaches. That's why we're paying the French to do that, but unfortunately, they're not doing a very good job of it, are they?"
Asking Mr Smith for his verdict on calls for an "emergency census" to track legal migration under the "Boris wave", he said he "welcomes" the move.
Mr Smith said: "Yes, I do want to see an emergency census. We have no idea how many people are in this country. We don't even know how many people are coming and going, really.
"We get the ONS figures, they are wildly inaccurate. We could have a US-style biometric entry exit system at our border. We could do a number of things.
"I think I'd put immigration officers in local authorities. We need much better checks and filling out forms to work out who's in our communities. So yes, I do welcome some activity on that front as well."
In a statement, a Home Office spokesman said: "The number of small boat crossings is shameful and the British people deserve better.
"This Government is taking action. We have removed almost 50,000 people who were here illegally, and our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
"The Home Secretary has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades, removing the incentives that bring illegal migrants to the UK and scaling up the return of those with no right to be here."
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