Government officials to meet local MPs to discuss chaotic impact of migrant crossings
MP demands more answers as concerns continue over a repeat of migrant arrival chaos
Government officials are set to meet local MPs with answers being sought from the Home Office over what preparations are being made in anticipation of more long-distance migrant Channel crossings.
It comes after 120 migrants collected in the Channel were brought to Eastney after attempting a 68-mile journey from in “one of the longest small boat crossings recorded” and the first small boat crossing to land in Hampshire.
However the boats carrying the migrants were met by protesters as it docked in Portsmouth who blocked the road to prevent them from being quickly taken to a processing centre in Kent. The ten-hour standoff led to seven police officers and several arrests after what the government called ‘thuggish’ behaviour.
A meeting between officials and Solent coastal MPs is taking place this week, with concerns raised in the Commons by Caroline Dinenage, Alan Mak, Amanda Martin, Joe Robertson, Suella Braverman and Richard Quigley. Stephen Morgan was unable to speak in the Commons as a result of his ministerial role.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport, has also written to the Home Secretary seeking reassurance that areas such as Portsmouth and Gosport would be ruled out in the event of further crossings.
In her letter she said: “I am keen to understand the extent to which preparations are being made for bringing any of these migrant boats ashore in the future. I am sure you recognise that Eastney was a disastrous destination and it’s vital to avoid a future repeat of those distressing scenes.
“With that in mind, I would warn against considering any alternative destinations around Portsmouth Harbour but particularly to Gosport, a peninsula town, with very constricted traffic arteries.
“Quite simply my Gosport constituents would not accept attempts by the Home Office to bring these immigrant boat arrivals to our shores. The roads on and off the Gosport peninsula are single carriageway, sometimes single lane, mainly residential and often congested. It would be virtually impossible to guarantee that immigrant arrivals would leave this peninsula safely.
“I would strongly suggest that any further immigrant boat arrivals destined for this part of the South Coast are turned around in the English Channel.”
Following protests across the Solent area, Dame Caroline previously spoke in the House of Commons about the impact of the disorder on police resources in Hampshire.
There she said “we still know very little about this extraordinary mega-dinghy turning up on our shores” and asked for clarity over what intelligence the government has over the change in tactics by the criminal gangs arranging the crossings.
She also asked for reassurance over policing levels with ‘more than 140 officers dragged away from our communities and from communities as far away as London to police and deal with this incident’.