SNP label Boris Johnson 'toxic' as PM labels channel crossing migrants 'stupid'

The Prime Minister labelled channel crossings “very bad, stupid and dangerous”

Border Force officers assist 20 Syrian migrants aboard HMC Hunter after they were stopped as they crossed The Channel in an inflatable dinghy headed in the direction of England.

An SNP MP has labelled the rhetoric around immigration from the UK Government as “toxic” following the home secretary’s announcement that she intends to make channel crossings for migrants “unviable”.

Priti Patel announced on Sunday the appointment of a “clandestine channel threat commander” who will be tasked with stopping migrants using the Channel as a route into the UK.

Boris Johnson said it would be helpful to work with the French to crack down on what he labelled “cruel and criminal gangs” taking people across the channel, something he said was a “very bad and stupid and dangerous” choice.

Home Secretary Priti Patel onboard a police boat in Dover, the day after she appointed Dan O’Mahoney as the Clandestine Channel Threat Commander - a new role leading the UK’s response to tackling illegal attempts to reach the UK - who will be tasked with making the route unviable for small boat crossings.

However, the SNP’s shadow minister for immigration Stuart McDonald said the rhetoric is “toxic” and based on “inherent xenophobia” in the Conservatives.

He said: “Let’s be absolutely clear – Boris Johnson’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is toxic and is actively putting lives at risk.

“The scenes in the Channel over recent days shine a light on the inherent xenophobia at the very heart of the Tory party.

“The Tory home secretary’s fixation on immigrants offers no more than a distraction to the real issues of the day – like the needs of our NHS and support for people at risk of losing their job due to coronavirus.”

Mr McDonald then repeated calls for immigration policy to be devolved to Scotland, saying the current policies “do not speak to our values”.

He added: “The UK government’s current immigration policy, and obsession on arbitrary net migration targets, is failing Scotland. With the devolution of these powers we could create a humanitarian, outward looking approach to immigration.

“Scotland stands firmly against Johnson’s cruel and heartless approach to and rhetoric on migration. These policies do not speak to our values. It’s time for Douglas Ross to decide: will he choose to side with his boss, or the people of Scotland?”

Speaking during a trip to St Joseph’s school in Upminster, Mr Johnson said the government will look at the legal framework around deportations of migrants who arrive in the UK on boats.

He said: “There’s no doubt that it would be helpful if we could work with our French friends to stop them (migrants) getting over the Channel.

“Be in no doubt what’s going on is the activity of cruel and criminal gangs who are risking the lives of these people taking them across the Channel, a pretty dangerous stretch of water in potentially unseaworthy vessels.

“We want to stop that, working with the French, make sure that they understand that this isn’t a good idea, this is a very bad and stupid and dangerous and criminal thing to do.

“But then there’s a second thing we’ve got to do and that is to look at the legal framework that we have that means that when people do get here, it is very, very difficult to then send them away again even though blatantly they’ve come here illegally.”

On Friday, Ms Patel had labelled the number of small boat crossings “shameful” and said “genuine refugees” should claim asylum within the EU.

She said: “The number of illegal small boat crossings is appalling and unacceptably high. The figures are shameful.

“France and other EU states are safe countries. Genuine refugees should claim asylum there, not risk their lives and break the law by coming to the UK.

"We also need the cooperation of the French to intercept boats and return migrants back to France.

“I know that when the British people say they want to take back control of our borders – this is exactly what they mean.”

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