Migrants
Today’s big story concerns the immigrants in small boats trying to get to the UK by crossing the Channel. The Telegraph is one of the media reporting the Home Secretary’s decision to declare a major incident.
Sajid Javid is resisting calls for more patrol boats to be deployed to the Channel to tackle the migrant crisis despite last night declaring it a “major incident.”
The Home Secretary broke off from his holiday to “take control” of the situation as a further 12 migrants landed in Dover, bringing the number rescued since Christmas Day to 90.
Despite pressure from Tory colleagues, French politicians and the military Mr Javid is reluctant to order additional boats to the Channel for fear it could encourage more migrants to attempt the crossing.
A Home Office source said: “We believe we have enough boats operationally to deal with it.
The Times says he will not use extra resources.
Sajid Javid declared a “major incident” last night over the influx of migrants trying to reach Britain across the Channel but was poised to rule out extra resources to tackle the crisis.
Pressure was mounting on the home secretary from Labour and his Conservative colleagues to explain how the government would tackle the situation as fears grew that there may soon be fatalities.
The number of migrants saved in the Channel by British authorities since Christmas Day has reached 94.
Sky News says he has had talks with the French.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid is facing calls to send in the Royal Navy after he declared the rising number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel a “major incident”.
Mr Javid announced he was seeking an urgent call with his French counterpart, after holding talks with Border Force officials and the National Crime Agency, to address the problem following a spate of attempts by migrants to cross to the UK by boat.
Immigration minister Caroline Nokes will assess the situation during a visit to Border Force offices in Dover on Saturday.
She will be joined by the Kent port’s MP, Charlie Elphicke, who has called for more patrol boats in the Channel to tackle trafficking gangs.
BBC News reports he is concerned.
The rising number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel in small boats has been declared a “major incident” by the UK home secretary.
Sajid Javid has asked for an urgent call with his French counterpart about the situation.
The Home Office said there was “concern that it is only a matter of time before people lose their lives”.
It comes after at least 221 migrants have attempted to cross the Channel to England since the start of November.
Most recently, 12 people were detained off the coast of Dover in the early hours of Friday morning.
And Breitbart claims most of them are from Iran.
The UK’s Home Secretary has declared the illegal crossings across the English Channel from France a “major incident” after a sharp rise in boat migrants, mainly Iranian citizens, landing on Kent’s shores.
The Home Office said in a statement that Mr Javid has spoken to Border Force officials, Immigration Enforcement, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) and has asked for “an urgent call with his French counterpart over the weekend to reaffirm the continuing need for the UK and France to work closely together to tackle the problem.”
While migrant numbers arriving in boats from France have been rising since November, the past few days have seen unprecedented landings, with a total of 40 arriving in five vessels on Christmas day, at least three on Boxing day, 32 Iranians were intercepted in British waters on Thursday, and another 12 were detained off the coast of Dover on Friday.
Westmonster points out that they are coming from a safe country.
Concern is growing at the increasing number of migrants seeking to break into Britain illegally by boat, with the country coming across as a ‘soft touch’ and a former senior Home Office official urging the government to return migrants to France. Those seeking to enter Britain illegally are coming from a safe European country, they have no right to come to the UK.
40 migrants were discovered on 5 boats on Christmas Day alone, and all were brought to the UK. More migrants landed on a Kent beach yesterday, with another small boat discovered off Dover. Westmonster has asked the Home Office if any of those caught are being deported, but they have yet to confirm.
The Mail reports the Home Secretary will take ‘personal control’ of the situation.
Sajid Javid last night declared a ‘major incident’ over the surge in Channel boat migrants.
Amid mounting criticism of his handling of the crisis, the Home Secretary announced he was taking personal control of borders.
However he is still on holiday with his family in South Africa – 6,000 miles away. Aides refused to say whether he would curtail his Christmas break.
Following a conference call with police and senior officials, Mr Javid appointed a ‘gold commander’ to oversee the response and asked for talks with his French counterpart.
The Guardian claims the migrants are desperate.
The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has declared the rising number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel a “major incident”, as campaigners and charities warned of increasing desperation among those attempting to make the journey.
Javid also appointed a gold commander to deal with the growing crisis and asked for an urgent call with his French counterpart to discuss the issue. MPs called for more patrols along the coast.
Two more inflatable boats carrying 12 men from Syria and Iran were intercepted on Friday, adding to the 82 migrants detained trying to cross the Channel since Christmas Day.
In an exclusive, the Sun claims he is being urged to bring in the Royal Navy to help.
SAJID Javid faces growing demands to call in the Royal Navy to stem the Channel migrant crisis as he declared it a major incident.
MPs from across the political divide united to call on the Home Secretary to swallow his pride and request the military’s help.
Anger erupted as it emerged the Border Force has just one of its five cutters available for service in the world’s busiest sea route.
At the same time, the number of illegals making crossings continued to spiral.
A further 12 men from Syria and Iran picked up in two more inflatable boats trying to reach beaches on the South Coast.
Their seizure brought the total to 92 in just four days since Christmas Day, and to 220 since November.
Almost a hundred people could have tried to get into the UK since Christmas, reports the Mirror.
The Home Secretary today declared a “major incident” as the number of desperate migrants intercepted in the English Channel hit almost 100 since Christmas Day.
Sajid Javid cut short his holiday as campaigners warned it was only a matter of time before people die in a mass tragedy in the cold, choppy waters between Dover and Calais – the world’s busiest shipping lane.
Two inflatable boats carrying 12 men from Syria and Iran were intercepted this morning, adding to 82 people detained since Christmas Day.
Border Force officials brought the men to shore at Dover and handed them over to immigration officials to be interviewed.
Brexit
As we edge nearer to ‘Independence Day’, the Telegraph has an exclusive report about governmental preparations.
The Government is failing to be “frank” with the public about the extent of no-deal preparations because it wants to shore up support for Theresa May’s “disastrous” Brexit deal, a civil servant says.
The official, who is involved in drawing up contingency plans, writes in The Telegraph that claims that Britain will “crash out” in the event of a no-deal Brexit are “absolutely untrue”.
Describing the claims as “Project Fear Mark III”, the civil servant says that “very detailed plans” have been made are now being executed to ensure that a cliff-edge Brexit is “simply not going to be an option”.
Without having to identify the civil servant who has made the comment, it is reproduced in the Telegraph.
Every day there is some fresh claim in the press – backed up by people who should (and perhaps really do) know better – that we must accept whatever outrageous terms we are offered by an intransigent EU because we are not prepared for no deal and it would be a disaster. This line is pushed by Remainer Cabinet ministers trying to scare us into swallowing the Withdrawal Agreement, and their friends campaigning for a second referendum – the Work & Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd’s brother Roland prominent among them.
This is Project Fear Mark (I think) III, which claims that we will all “crash out” over the white cliffs of Dover into the Channel at 11pm on 29 March 2019.
But the Prime Minister is not home and free yet, says the Express.
THERESA May is facing a new threat as a group of MPs threatened to topple her Government unless Britain gets a second vote on Brexit.
Pro-EU group Best for Britain is behind the scheme and has published a new report on the issue. The group wants British MPs to vote down Mrs May‘s Brexit deal when it finally arrives at Parliament in January. They then want a no deal outcome struck out.
MPs could also pass an amendment which stops the Government from collecting some taxes.
The report says: “The clearest opportunity for replacing no deal as the default option is through political pressure via the Finance Bill.
The Sun claims a second referendum is still a possibility.
REMAINER MPs have revealed a new push to force the Government into holding a second referendum on Brexit.
The House of Commons could bar ministers from raising taxes – bringing the state to a standstill.
The drastic step is proposed as a way of forcing Theresa May to carry out a dramatic U-turn and back a rerun of the 2016 vote.
Pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain has published a new report recommending the wrecking tactic.
It suggests MPs should vote down the PM’s deal next month, then vote to rule out a No Deal outcome.
The document says: “The clearest opportunity for replacing no deal as the default option is through political pressure via the Finance Bill.
And the BBC has come under fire for allowing its top presenter to spread propaganda, reports the Express.
LEFT-leaning Match of the Day host Gary Lineker is immune from strict guidelines on impartiality, the BBC admitted last night.
The former England footballer – the taxpayer-funded corporation’s highest paid presenter on £1.7million a year – uses Twitter to spread near daily anti-Brexit and pro-immigration messages. Many fellow broadcasters feel the 58-year-old’s political preaching breaches BBC guidelines. But the broadcaster confirmed he was above the law because he is a sports presenter.
Lineker’s calls for a so-called People’s Vote to settle Brexit have irritated millions, not least because he uses his high-profile to spread his messages.
EU
In another exclusive, the Mirror claims the Prime Minister is hoping for more concessions from the EU.
Downing Street is pinning its Brexit hopes on Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker being able to successfully encourage EU leaders to agree to more concessions on Theresa May’s deal.
One senior aide to the Prime Minister told the Mirror the eurocrat was the UK’s “best hope” of reaching agreement with the EU, conceding that he was “put on this earth to negotiate”.
The Government is now hoping to get other EU leaders to sign up to a start date for the UK’s trading relationship with the bloc which could mean the controversial Irish border back stop could be avoided.
They believe this could be done without reopening the divorce deal, which Brussels has ruled out, but could nevertheless carry the legal force demanded by the PM’s Brexiteer critics.
And the Express reports that the bloc should have worked harder during the referendum campaign.
THE EU should have made a “stay with us” campaign during the Brexit debate, a leading candidate for European Commission presidency claims.
Manfred Weber, the conservative candidate to take over from Jean-Claude Juncker, complains serious mistakes were made by the European Union in the Brexit debate. The candidate for the European People’s Party has said that Europeans should have countered the Brexit campaign with a “stay with us” initiative. Mr Weber said “our silence was a mistake,” when talking about the EU’s strategy in the run-up to the referendum in June 2016.
Mr Weber, deputy chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the regional conservative party, said to the Editorial Network Germany: “We should have interfered during the Brexit campaign.
Breitbart reports that Sharia law could be adopted in the EU.
French legal expert Gregor Puppinck has said that a recent European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in Greece could open up the door for limited aspects of Islamic sharia law to be adopted in Europe.
Puppinck, who serves as director of the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) and is a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Panel of Experts on Freedom of Conscience and Religion, said that the ECHR ruling in Greece earlier this month runs counter to a previous judgement in 2003 that found sharia incompatible with “the fundamental principles of democracy,” Le Figaro reports.
The new ruling followed a case in which a Muslim woman in the Greek region of Thrace was deprived of her inheritance of her dead husband’s estate due to an application of sharia law which has been allowed in the region since the 1920s, despite his will naming her as his beneficiary.
New party
With previous promises of a new party seeming to bite the dust, the Times reports on yet another group which hopes to launch soon.
A new centre party will be launched in the new year with a vow to win the next general election.
United for Change, founded by the millionaire entrepreneur Simon Franks, wants to create a “true grassroots movement” that will practise politics without tribalism, confrontation, “yelling and finger pointing”.
The party has been developed in secret for almost two years by businesspeople and political donors who want to take advantage of anti-political sentiment in Britain. In an 800-word message to early supporters sent before Christmas, the party declared: “It is as clear as ever that Britain can do better than this.”
Rail travel
Away from front-line politics, the Times looks at the cost of travelling by train.
Rail passengers in Britain pay at least twice as much to travel as those in major European countries, leading to renewed criticism over rising fares.
Analysis of commuter fares in 40 European countries suggests that prices in the UK are the highest. Passengers paid the equivalent of 55p a mile in the past year compared with 29p in France, 21p in Spain and only 19p in Italy.
ares in Switzerland, often considered the best rail system in Europe, were 28p a mile.
Fares in Britain were four times higher than the average (14p) across the whole of Europe, it was claimed.
And the Mail reports the prospect of more strikes next week.
Rail workers are threatening yet more misery for commuters as they plan strikes for the new year as part of a long-running dispute over guards on trains.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) is warning of further industrial action as the bitter row approaches its third year.
The warning comes before a 24-hour strike on Saturday by RMT members on Arriva Rail North (Northern) and on South Western Railway on New Year’s Eve.
Services on both days will be disrupted, with buses replacing trains on some routes.
It will be the 42nd strike on Northern, with stoppages planned on every Saturday in January.
Drugs
The Times reports on a growing trend for drug use.
The number of people aged above 50 receiving hospital treatment after taking drugs has more than quadrupled in the past decade, The Times can reveal.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists says that NHS services are struggling to cope with a huge increase in older drug users, particularly driven by baby boomers continuing the hedonistic lifestyles of their youth.
Last year 7,800 people aged above 55 were admitted to hospital with drug-related mental or behavioural disorders. A decade ago the figure was 1,380, meaning that there has been an increase of 465 per cent.
The number of people aged 55 and above seeking treatment for cannabis misuse rose by more than 250 per cent over the same period, from 700 to 2,500.
Snow
And if you don’t like this mild, grey weather, there is a possibility that things could change soon, reports the Sun .
UK weather forecast experts have warned another Beast from the East could be set to hit the UK as early as next week.
The Met Office says a phenomenon called a Sudden Stratospheric Warming might cause snow storms and chilling winds to sweep in from the East triggering a cold snap like the record-breaker earlier this year.
Recent mild temperatures are set to plummet next week to more familiar wintry weather.
Meanwhile, a sudden warming in the atmosphere over the North Pole could bring dramatic effects to the UK in the coming weeks.
The Star has picked up the warning.
A SPELL of bitterly cold weather nicknamed the “Beast from the East” could batter Britain with snow and sub-zero temperatures in January.
Britain could face weeks of savage “wintry conditions” in the New Year after a relatively mild period of weather in December and over Christmas.
Aside from freezing fog this week, for which severe weather warnings were issued by the Met Office, the weather has been calm and settled over the festive period.
But from next week, a weather phenomenon called Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) is threatening to usher in cold snaps reminiscent of the “Beast from the East” that crippled Britain last winter.
We’ve seen that Tory voters are incredibly gullible so many times. That’s what started the death of UKIP. May promised Brexit means Brexit and they believed her. The self interest at the top, foolish concentration on Islam, guaranteed to lose us many votes, loss of Nigel and poor leadership choices just finished the job.
Perhaps in time UKIP can rise again but meanwhile there are local elections in May, an excellent chance to send a message to Westminster. Please may I ask that voters in wards with no UKIP candidate, like mine, choose an Independent one, especially where the Independent is pro Brexit. I’m biased of course because I fit this slot as an ex UKIP and now independent councillor who has constantly fought for Brexit and still does. There are many people like me who joined UKIP just to fight for and win the referendum but recognised many months ago that we could no longer support our changed party which rapidly went down hill and became the kiss of death electorally. Some of us went Tory, the best way to
re-election, the rest became independent because that was unthinkable.
The change from UKIP to Independence Daily, demonstrated by this outlet, is the only way forward now. Anyone and everyone who supports proper independence from Brussels have to pull together or we will have won a battle and lost the war.
Since the BBC news has confirmed that every migrant boat reaching the 12 mile limit has a right to be picked up and rescued by our navy, Border Guards etc! No doubt our French “friends” want to get rid of them so they are hardly going to pull finger and prevent them coming!!
OUR GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO GET A GRIP ! Idiot Tory MPs had the chance to get rid of Mrs May as our PM, but succeeded only in giving her another year in office ! We are being invaded across the Channel, but there is no need to increase defences for that says the Minister ! It is odds on that we are about to be snowed in this winter.- What precautions have been made for this ? Brexit should be total exit from the EU, but we are told that we might have to ‘Crash Out’ ! – WTO is the deal, but we would never know that with the drivel from Government !
I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I’m now at the end of my patience with our Parliament in general, and this so called Tory Government in particular. Generally I have voted Conservative, as I did at the last election, but never again. This shower are a waste of space. It’s UKIP now, in the hope that more voters will have had enough too !
Yes. I voted Tory last time too. In my case it was only because there was no UKIP candidate. I’ve supported Ukip for a long time. Without them I’m quite simply dienfranchised.
I got a Labour MP. Would YOU want Corbyn as PM Mike?
With respect, the comments on this page give me the impression that most people haven’t a clue as to what’s really going on here and in Europe, and the motives of our globalist mainstream politicians. The politicians don’t WANT to get a grip, they are self serving and carrying out the will of their marxist- globalist puppetteers. This mass migration is deliberate and planned ; they want to destroy Europe and its civilisation because it interferes with their agenda. We are up against some very cunning people who are causing huge problems and crises deliberately, using them as an excuse to grab more power. (Have you ever watched Yuri Bezhemov’s you- tubes, these people’s methods appear similar). Another of their motives for mass migration, is I think : to flood big business in Europe with a glut of cheap labour, while leaving the contingent costs for the european taxpayer to pick up. In other words getting us the taxpayers to subsidise big business. The EU is the engine and enforcer for all this, which is why our only salvation would be a clean break. But I can’t see a Tory/Labour government ever allowing this to happen.
Look at the local by election results. Few have a UKIP candidate and where there is one their vote share is insignificant. They can’t change things by threatening seats any more. I do have a pro-Brexit Tory MP but there will still be no one I could vote for in a General election, for the first time in my life I’ll have to abstain. In May there will be at least 3 ex Ukipers standing as independents, including me. We still have a chance to help our country and local community. If you have people like us standing and no Ukip candidate, please help us.
A few days ago the BBC and Sky were reporting that several people had been “rescued” from small boats attempting to cross the Channel.
I note that in the summary above the BBC is reporting that people have been “detained”.
I was hoping to hear that these illegal immigrants have been “apprehended”. They should be presumed illegal due to their choice of mode of entry into the UK.
I look forward to hearing from the MSM what is being done with those now detained. The MSM should keep us informed on all matters consequential to this invasion. The public should be told exactly what procedures these people are now going through, how quickly and how decisions are being made about action to be taken — which I would hope will include repatriation.
We should be reassured that this highly visible attempted immigration is being dealt with as a matter of urgency and thoroughly in order to preserve the integrity of our Borders.
Reassurance to the people of Britain is an important duty of our Government.
George. Oh yes they’ve got thje matter in hand all right. I trust you are aware of the horrors of the Global Compact for Migration which our treacherous government signed on the quiet, almost entirely unreported in MSM, on 11 Dec? The Government’s and the EU’s “solution” to illegal migration is to call it legal and problem “solved” !!!! Here are some links : (Sorry, these need copy pasting onto your browser, as I seem to have a problem on my computer with links)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gerard+batten++mep+re+global+compact+for+migration
independencedaily.co.uk/letters-to-the-editor-sunday-23rd-december-2018 (the last letter on this page).
For goodness don’t mention this to a politician, They’ll make people smugglling another industry and tax it after declaing its essential humanity. Thus solving everything except a problem
Hah! Of course. Why didn’t I think of that. I’ll never get my head round these politically correct solutions.
Have to laugh don’t we or we’d cry.
I did mention this to a politician, to my egregious Tory MP, or rather I call him MB (Master of Bullshit). He lied to me that the May’s Withdrawal Agreement would give us back control of our borders. I replied why then did May sneak behind our backs and sign the Global Compact for Migration. In response he lied that this would be non binding (it won’t if the EU criminal “justice” system has anything to do with it). He also lied that it would give us control of our borders (it won’t; the ones controlling our borders will be the EU). He also lied that it would make migration orderly: another lie, as the GCM doesn’t give a thought as to how we’re going to foot the bill for the new arrivals or deal with the law and order issues which experience on the Continent have shown to be inevitable. Plus he forgot to mention the ban on criticising the inevitable humungeous influx of migrants.
What I would like to do with these small boat illegal immigrants IS SIMPLY MOW THEM DOWN sink them with bigger boats.
I would like noted that 2 years ago I warned that people in small seaside towns along the south coast knew of small boats delivering Immigrants to the beaches in the. I have always assumed that our shores were monitored electronically by a miscellaneous mix of coast guard, Service, and other helicopters and Druggies etc.. and that TPTB were doing their PC thing. and keeping quiet.so as not to inconvenience drug deliveries ‘…Just another sign of Governed Britain.
Asking the French authorities or the EU as a whole to do anything positive about solving any problem is an utter waste of time, haven’t we realised this by now. That is why we want out. I can understand Javid’s rationale about deploying extra enforcement ships in British waters, because they will tow these migrant boats into our ports and that will just encourage even more to attempt the crossing. Royal Navy vessels however should be patrolling French waters and tow any migrant boats back to French ports. What Javid and the government as a whole should be doing now with the assistance of Phillip Hammond (some chance of that happening anytime soon) is putting in sufficient financial resources into building up the manpower of the UK Border Agency at ALL points of entry and give them extra powers to deal with illegal entrants to the country. However, when did politics and common sense go hand in hand with each other. One has to go back some way now to see when that last occurred.
When the mass migration started a few years ago, I suggested to my MP that the UK should get a grip on the situation, to the benefit of all. My suggestion was to take ALL the immigrants coming into Europe, and put them on the Isle of Wight. This would have served as a central processing center and prevented the problems experienced from uncontrolled immigration.
Isn’t that a bit unfair on the Isle of Wight?
Better would be to put them on St Helena or Ascention Island or Tristan da Cunha.
Only for those attempting to get into the UK, not for the whole of the EU.
I would move them out of the UK, British Army still has bases in Germany that are fairly empty. They are our territory so we could move refugees to one of them to keep them safe. We still have territory in Cyprus where they could be accommodated
Prediction: expect early in the new year some kind of photo of a dead child to hit all our newspaper front pages and 24hr rolling news channels, a body washed up on one of our beaches, and the reaction to be much the same as when that poor little boy was found on that Turkish beach. Expect all the ‘refugees welcome’ banners to be unfurled again, and the virtue-signalling from celebrities on Twitter to become relentless again. Anyone who complains about these illegal immigrants will simply be branded as ‘racist nazi bigots’ etc etc, you all know the score by now.
I just wonder though when someone in government will come forward and come clean that thanks to Mrs May’s signing of the UN Global Compact there is actually very little that can be done about this, these people now have the ‘right’ to enter our country illegally, and it is our ‘duty’ to provide for them.
Stuart re first para: the story about the dead child was widely publicised, but no MSM publicity re the problems caused subsequently by the huge influx of migrants. “Voice of Europe” website is one of the very few that has reported extensively about these problems.
I agree, the media publicity/propaganda was designed to ‘persuade’ ordinary people to ‘change their minds’. At the moment, the British people are openly hostile to the idea of ‘rescuing’ migrants from boats in the Channel, so that’s why I believe its only a matter of time before we have some more ‘media magic’. Perhaps timed around the time of Parliament’s vote on Theresa May’s WA? Would also serve as perfectly timed distraction material….
Can’t help thinking our home secretary is making a lot of noise aimed at gullible tory voters which will lead to precisely no action and last just as long as the tabloids are interested.
I expect every statement to be prefaced with the important reminder of javid’s heritage and the crucial role of immigration in creating our Island story without which we would be nothing. I don’t expect any boats to be towed back to France or to see anyone deported back to France. When someone drowns it wont be because liberals think everyone should be allowed to break immigation laws. It will be broadcast as another sign of our lack of compassion. This asylum seeking racket needs stopping now. Illegal entrance to UK should mean automatic deportation and no exceptions. Talking to the French wont get us very far. Deportation is not pleasant. All the more reason to turn these boats back to France. The Australians worked this out years ago.
Unless future ‘desperate refugees’ are stopped at the coast of France,it is almost inevitable someone will die. That, however, will not deter others from attempting the crossing and news of every successful landing will be promptly relayed to others who are waiting their turn. The only move which may be a deterrent is the prompt return, with maximum publicity, of any illegal immigrants who make it from France via this route,