Home Secretary Yvette Cooper refuses to set a timetable on solving small boats crisis
THE Home Secretary has refused to set a timetable on solving the small boats crisis — despite more than 35,000 Channel arrivals this year.
Yvette Cooper admitted the figure is “far too high”, but would not set a deadline on bringing it down.
She told the BBC: “What we’re not going to do is deal with this by slogans.
“There is a history of Home Secretaries and Prime Ministers making grand promises but never actually having a plan.”
Ms Cooper said she is taking a “step by step” approach, which will include strong returns agreements and law enforcement.
She insisted that lacking a target did not mean migration was not a top priority.
And she did not rule out processing asylum claims in a third country despite the Labour Government axing the Tories’ Rwanda scheme.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp yesterday said: “You need a deterrent to stop the boats.
“Law enforcement alone is not enough.”
He compared the Rwanda scheme with a similar project which he said “completely stopped” boats crossing from Indonesia to Australia.
Home Office Minister Angela Eagle also said yesterday it wasn’t possible to know how many undocumented migrants are in the UK.