The Government insisted on Friday it would get a grip on migration “in the fullness of time” as it attacked Labour’s plan to work more closely with Europe to stop Channel boats.
Sir Keir Starmer’s new plan will lead to 100,000 more migrants entering Britain as part of a burden-sharing arrangement with the European Union, Conservative ministers claim, even as they struggle to deliver on the Prime Minister’s pledge to “stop the boats”.
Rishi Sunak’s own negotiations with the EU about a returns agreement would not entail a migrants quota for Britain, Home Office minister Chris Philp insisted on Sky News, adding: “I’m confident in the fullness of time, yes, we will stop those boats. They’re also unnecessary because France is a safe country, it’s not a warzone.”
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper rejected the Tory claims as “total garbage… which just shows, I think, how desperate they are that their whole system is failing”.
“We clearly won’t be part of that (EU) quota scheme,” she said. “We are not a member state, we will not be a member, we will not be part of that scheme.”
And Labour announced that hotels, barges and former military sites would not be used to house asylum seekers if it gets into power.
