Davey announces plan to join EU pact and end small boat crossings which have soared since Brexit

EMBARGO: 2230 Tuesday 18th August

Davey announces plan to join EU pact and end small boat crossings which have soared since Brexit

• Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey says Farage and the Conservatives deceived the public by claiming their botched Brexit deal would protect our borders, as over 200,000 people have now crossed the Channel in small boats, up from zero before the referendum.
• Davey calls for the UK to immediately enter the EU’s new landmark Migration and Asylum Pact, granting Britain sweeping new powers to return small boat arrivals.
• Joining the pact would end the “pull factor” to the UK, giving the Government a legal route to return small boat arrivals to the first EU country they entered and granting the Home Office access to the EU-wide biometric database of asylum seekers.

The Liberal Democrats have today announced plans to end the small boats crisis, calling for the UK to join the EU’s landmark new Migration and Asylum Pact, granting Britain sweeping new powers to return migrants and gaining new access to EU-wide biometric data.

Since Brexit, over 200,000 people have made the dangerous channel crossing in small boats, up from zero before the referendum.

The Liberal Democrat leader has today said Britain must join the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which would give the UK new powers to legally return migrants to the first EU country they entered.

Joining the new pact would also grant Britain access to the EU’s biometric database. Currently, the Home Office has no knowledge of the identity of arrivals or whether they've already been refused asylum by neighbouring countries.

Being outside the EU has been described as a “major pull factor” driving the crisis. Asylum seekers know Britain has no watertight returns agreement, and no access to data to show whose asylum applications have already been denied elsewhere.

Authorities have admitted that ‘at least 15’ convicted people smugglers have been able to enter and live in the UK because of the failure of checks, including the ‘godfather’ of the migrant camps Twana Jamal. Brexit has made it more difficult to carry out checks, as the UK no longer has access to EU-wide databases with crucial background information and criminal history.

Davey has said the Conservatives and Farage, who pushed through their botched Brexit deal, deceived the public by claiming Brexit would protect our borders and now are “exploiting the mess they created for their own gain”.

The party says Britain must continue its proud history of welcoming those fleeing persecution, but that cannot be via small boats. Joining the new pact would finally give Britain a humane, orderly and cost-effective asylum system.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“Farage and the Conservatives should hang their heads in shame for breaking our borders with their bad Brexit deal. But instead of apologising to the British public, they are now exploiting the mess they created for their own gain.

“We have a plan that would finally end the small boats crisis: a pact with every EU country that will allow us to return people who come over the Channel, taking away the major pull factor that Farage and co created and destroying the business model of the criminal gangs.”

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Max Wilkinson MP said:

“Time and time again, Nigel Farage and the architects of the dangerous small boats chaos tell us they have a new plan to end the crisis they created. They would sooner send in the navy at taxpayers’ expense and strip British people of hard-won rights by leaving the ECHR than admit they’re responsible.

“We can end small boat crossings and have a humane and cost-effective asylum system by joining the EU’s new pact. We should be proud of Britain’s history as a place of sanctuary for those fleeing persecution, and that must continue, but it needs to be safe and controlled for everyone - not via small boat crossings.”

ENDS