A Conservative MP has launched a fierce attack on the Government’s migrant return programme, dismissing it as woefully insufficient during a television interview this morning.
Andrew Griffith condemned the scheme, which begins today, arguing that it falls drastically short of its promised one-for-one exchange ratio.
Speaking on GB News, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade claimed the programme represents “something like 17 in, one possibly out” rather than the balanced approach suggested by its name.
He accused the Home Secretary of overseeing unprecedented growth in migrant arrivals whilst failing to address the fundamental issues within the immigration system.
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Andrew Griffith said that “no one should be coming here”
Speaking to The Peoples Channel, Griffith said: “Nobody should be coming here on a small boat from France. France is a safe country.
“It’s a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, along with the United Kingdom. It gave human rights to the world. No one should be in fear of death or persecution in France.
“They may have some interesting menu choices sometimes, but there’s no reason for people to leave France and come to the United Kingdom.
“And that insight is somehow lost on this Government. It’s lost on the criminal justice system. It’s lost on the immigration tribunals.
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“People who come to this country illegally should all be returned not handed a lottery ticket where 90 per cent of those who arrive somehow get to stay.”
The Conservative MP expanded his critique to encompass broader systemic failures, and discussed how foreign nationals convicted of crimes occupy British prison spaces.
He claimed that 16,000 criminals had been released under the current Government due to insufficient capacity, which he attributed to foreign offenders clogging up the system.
Griffith connected immigration pressures to everyday challenges facing British citizens, noting that viewers struggle to secure GP appointments whilst their children cannot afford homes.
“There are nine million working-age adults in the United Kingdom sitting on benefits while immigrants are coming in to do those jobs. We get it. The whole system is broken,” he said.
He added: “I think Keir Starmer is doing this because we and other parties are breathing down the necks of Labour MPs.
“This is the most unpopular Government in history. And one of the reasons why is that it’s clear: far from having a plan to smash the gangs, he had no plan at all to deal with illegal immigration.
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Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer announced a ‘one in, one out’ migrant deal
“Just as Rachel Reeves had no plan to grow the economy, she thought she’d just rock up and not be the Conservatives and somehow everything would be magical.
“But ever since, we’ve seen unemployment rise, growth fall, and she’s gone on a complete borrowing spree that is really risking the United Kingdom’s debt rating and our ability to continue servicing our debts as they fall due.
“So, yes they may now have something resembling a plan. But 17 in, one out is not an adequate plan for the sort of challenge we’re seeing daily on our streets.”
