Nick Thomas-Symonds responds to 20,000 Channel crossings this year

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to 20,000 Channel crossings this year, said:

“The Home Secretary has been in post for over two years and has - repeatedly - committed to stopping Channel crossings in small boats by making the route ‘unviable’.

“Yet we have seen unprecedented numbers making the journey with a staggering 20,000 for this year alone. The Home Secretary’s approach has, once again, failed to deliver.

“Labour have been saying for some time that the Government needs an effective deal with the French authorities, to establish safe and legal routes, and re-open the Department for International Development, the Government department that addresses why people flee their homes in the first place.

“Instead we see the tragic results of Government incompetence.”