Posted on Jul 9, 2022
Priti Patel’s plan to end Channel crossings in disarray as Navy threatens to ‘walk away’
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The Royal Navy is threatening to “walk away” from Boris Johnson and Priti Patel’s plan to stem the number of boats carrying asylum seekers across the Channel as official data shows how spectacularly the policy has backfired.
Defence chiefs are said to be fed up with trying to enact the prime minister and home secretary’s rapidly imploding plan of using the military to control small boats in the Channel.
Ministry of Defence data shows crossings have close to doubled since the military was given “primacy” over the issue from mid-April compared with the first three months of this year.
Patel and Johnson were warned that deploying the Royal Navy would be likely to increase the number of crossings but ignored expert advice because, according to internal sources, they wanted to appear tough.
One former defence minister told the Observer that their miscalculation had guaranteed the navy was effectively providing an “efficient taxi service” for asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, senior Home Office sources have admitted the UK could receive up to 60,000 people by small boat this year – double last year’s record – with another 20,000 arriving by different routes, undermining the credibility of Patel, who has made reducing crossings her priority.
Defence chiefs are said to be fed up with trying to enact the prime minister and home secretary’s rapidly imploding plan of using the military to control small boats in the Channel.
Ministry of Defence data shows crossings have close to doubled since the military was given “primacy” over the issue from mid-April compared with the first three months of this year.
Patel and Johnson were warned that deploying the Royal Navy would be likely to increase the number of crossings but ignored expert advice because, according to internal sources, they wanted to appear tough.
One former defence minister told the Observer that their miscalculation had guaranteed the navy was effectively providing an “efficient taxi service” for asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, senior Home Office sources have admitted the UK could receive up to 60,000 people by small boat this year – double last year’s record – with another 20,000 arriving by different routes, undermining the credibility of Patel, who has made reducing crossings her priority.
Priti Patel’s plan to end Channel crossings in disarray as Navy threatens to ‘walk away’
Posted from theguardian.com
Immigration
Refugees
United Kingdom
Posted >1 y ago
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The Royal Navy is perfectly capable of reducing the number of small boats crossing the channel with asylum seekers. The problem is that no one wants to let them actually do that. This is no different from many similar missions that various countries dump on the military only to discover that the military is not equipped with magic wands and not staffed with social workers.
The military (regardless of country or branch) is equipped with guns and people who are trained to use those guns. If the Home Secretary tells the Minister of Defense to have the Royal Navy start sinking boats carrying asylum seekers, the Royal Navy is fully capable to getting the job done.
Just about the only thing sillier than sending a military force on a "Peace Keeping Mission" is the nonsense idea of sending any military force to protect a border while telling them not to offend anyone.
The military (regardless of country or branch) is equipped with guns and people who are trained to use those guns. If the Home Secretary tells the Minister of Defense to have the Royal Navy start sinking boats carrying asylum seekers, the Royal Navy is fully capable to getting the job done.
Just about the only thing sillier than sending a military force on a "Peace Keeping Mission" is the nonsense idea of sending any military force to protect a border while telling them not to offend anyone.
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