Channel migrants need to be on plane to Rwanda within days, demands Patrick Christys

I believe we need to get some Channel migrants on a plane to Rwanda within the next few days. No ifs, no buts, get the plane loaded and ready to go. We need to show the people smugglers and the illegal immigrants that the Rwanda deal is serious otherwise there’s no deterrent.

When we had no crossings for 11 days I think I was a bit too optimistic about that. I jumped the gun. Why? Well, because, like everybody else, I was really desperate for this scheme to work. But as Nigel Farage kept telling me, it turns out that that was basically all down to the wind direction than deterrent. Maybe one day I’ll learn to listen to him.

BUT I still stand by the fact that this deal could work. But it will only work if we have a plane taking off for the African nation very, very soon.

We are hearing a lot about record numbers coming over so far this year, around 7,000, which is triple the number we had this time last year.

The Ministry of Defence has now confirmed that almost 300 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats yesterday.

A total of nine small boats were intercepted and 293 people brought to Dover harbour to be processed by UK Border Force.

I think it’s perfectly understandable that we’ll see a surge in the coming days because the people smugglers will be trying to get as many people over here, and as much money in their pockets, before the Rwanda deal kicks in.

I won’t be put off this deal if we see thousands of migrants trying to hurry over here before it kicks in, but I will be put off it if, once it does come into force, it gets bogged down in legal challenges or it takes months and months to see any flights leave.

The fact is, if this Rwanda deal doesn’t work, it could actually make the illegal channel crossings much, much worse.

It will be the final nail in the coffin for our border security. It will prove, once and for all, that we cannot control our borders and we’re all out of ideas.

We’d be able to hear the laughter of the people smugglers all the way across the Channel as they line up thousands of illegal migrants, probably now charging a premium because they can more or less absolutely guarantee their safe passage into the land of milk and honey that is the UK.

I hope our government has planned for legal challenges – one is being brought against this deal on the grounds that it may break international law.

The irony here is that, in trying to block the Rwanda deal, these human rights groups are apparently content to line the pockets of people smugglers and encourage people to take a journey across the freezing waters of the busiest shipping lane in the world.

I do wonder whether these groups actually care more about bringing down a Tory government than they do about the human rights of people fleeing the war in France…

To be fair I went to France a few years ago and I couldn’t wait to get out of there either, but that’s not the point.

In my opinion, when it comes to the Rwanda deal, this will live or die based on how quickly that first flight takes off.

We’re going to get a surge in arrivals, that’s natural, because as it stands the deal is still not a deterrent.

But a take off changes all that. It would be a big jumbo jet of deterrent. A Boeing 747 of deterrent.

And it needs to happen as soon as possible.