Priti Patel has highlighted the key issues surrounding the UK's growing migrant crisis, as Home Secretary Suella Braverman warned of a "hurricane" of migrants in her keynote speech.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, Braverman called her family's own migration to the UK a "wind of change", comparing their "mere gust" to the "hurricane that is coming."
In a discussion with GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope and presenter Patrick Christys, the former Home Secretary detailed the main obstacles facing Braverman in stopping the small boat crossings.
Christopher Hope asked Patel: "We asked the PM about small boats, he said it's down by a fifth because of this deal with Albania. Is that enough? I mean Rwanda was your idea, it's in the courts now, is Suella Braverman doing enough on small boats?"
Priti Patel warned Suella Braverman that 'people are still crossing'
GB News
Patel replied: "So it's a collective position. You know, it's not down to one individual at all. We used to have an illegal migration task force across the whole of Government to work on this. I worked with the MoD, Ben Wallace at the time.
"The Government has said it's going to stop the boats. And actually, I think they're going to have to explain that in its entirety. What are the key policies that we’ll need to stopping the boats?
"The crucial thing though, people are still crossing, and it's still putting all the pressures on our systems domestically. And actually, you know that we've got the Supreme Court judgement which starts next week around the Rwanda flights."
Patrick Christys then asked: "Can I ask how you would feel about turning boats back?"
Patel revealed: "So we have already tried that. I can tell you now I've been there, it's very controversial and it's not straightforward. The French absolutely resist the whole concept in the principle of turning boats back.
"That would also mean entering French territorial waters, British vessels entering French territorial waters, if the French entered our territorial waters we wouldn't take too kindly to that for obvious reasons.
"So we tried to work in partnership and our approach working with the MoD, with Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary back then, was to bring in the Navy, bring in Navy personnel to work with Border Force officials to actually try and look at the turn back process.
"But it is controversial because you risk lives being lost at sea. It’s very, very difficult."
Suella Braverman warned of a "migrant hurricane" in her keynote speech in Manchester
PA
Patel continued: "And not everybody agrees with this as well. And as I've said, the French fundamentally disagree with turning boats back and sending them back to France.
"This is the whole thing. They do not want them once they leave.
"And then you could argue now once they leave France, the French say well that's now your problem, Brits. You know, we're not gonna take them back type thing.
"So there's there's a lot of toing and froing on that."