GB News Home and Security editor Mark White has delivered a stark assessment of the deteriorating situation in the English Channel, warning that migrant crossings are worsening daily with boats continuing to arrive.
Speaking to GB News, Mark revealed that four additional small boats were attempting to reach UK waters even as he reported on the crisis.
He explained: "As we speak, there are four more small boats in the English Channel attempting to reach UK waters. They’re making slow progress, and that’s probably because they’re weighed down with migrants.
"The boats we saw arriving yesterday had more than 70 people on board each. Just under 600 migrants crossed yesterday alone.
Mark White has delivered a stark assessment of the deteriorating situation in the English Channel
GB NEWS
"That has pushed the number of Channel crossings this year to more than 19,000 and at this rate, we could hit the 20,000 mark by Tuesday.
"That would be a significant milestone, especially considering that the total for the whole of last year was 36,000 which was bad enough.
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"And we’re not even into the so-called hottest, calmest months of the year such as July, August, September, even into October when crossings traditionally surge."
He added: "We heard an admission from the Prime Minister recently that the Channel situation is deteriorating. An obvious statement of fact, frankly, given what we can all see with our own eyes.
"And yes, the French police have become slightly more robust in the past few weeks, using tear gas and pepper spray to try to disperse the migrants.
"As for this so-called pushback policy pushing small boats back to shore in shallow waters, we don’t even know if that will ever happen. It’s meant to launch in a few days’ time, but it’s already facing a legal challenge in the French courts, much like the UK’s Rwanda plan.
"That challenge could delay it or scupper it entirely.
"Meanwhile, the boats keep coming. And even if the pushback policy were introduced and somehow worked, what would it really achieve?
"It would simply drive the migrants back into the sand dunes and camps, where they’d regroup with the smugglers and try again another day until they finally make it across."
French authorities have implemented more aggressive tactics in recent weeks, deploying teargas and pepper spray to disperse migrants gathering on beaches.
He revealed that four additional small boats were attempting to reach UK waters even as he reported on the crisis
PA
The Government's anticipated deal with France during President Emmanuel Macron's state visit next week has drawn sharp criticism before its announcement.
The proposed agreement would reportedly establish a one in, one out returns policy, with France accepting some small boat migrants in exchange for Britain taking a set quota of French-based migrants.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp condemned the plan, stating: "We pay the French half a billion pounds to wave the boats off from Calais, and in return we get a migrant merry-go-round where the same number still come here."
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