UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has blamed calm weather for the record number of small boat crossings this year, although last year he claimed bad weather had nothing to do with the dramatic drop in crossings, The Independent reports.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman cited “a number of different reasons” for why the number of Channel crossings in the first three months of 2024 was the highest ever, including the weather.
But last year, when Mr. Sunak called a press conference to welcome the fall in small boat crossings, he simply said: “Our plan is starting to work.”
Quizzed at the time about “exceptional winds” in the Channel, Mr. Sunak said:
“Crossings elsewhere in Europe are up by almost a third over a similar time period. That the lower UK figure is down to the actions we’ve put in place”.
On Tuesday, when asked why the figures were at a record high, his spokesman said:
“There is a range of different reasons you will see fluctuations in the numbers. We have seen increases and we know that criminal gangs will seek to exploit opportunities and weather, and we know that French police are facing increasing violence and disruption on the ground on French beaches.”
It comes after the number of migrants arriving in Britain across the Channel in the first three months of 2024 reached 5,435, a 43 per cent increase on the same period last year.
The figure is also about a fifth more than in 2022, when the highest number of small boat crossings were recorded.
The rising figures have raised questions about Mr. Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”, but Downing Street said the Prime Minister was confident he could deliver on that promise. Mr. Sunak’s spokesman said:
“We need to keep stepping up our efforts and adapting to the gangs who continually adapt their own tactics, but that’s why, alongside continuing that work, we have to fundamentally break the business model, and that’s what the Rwanda partnership will do.”
Last January, Mr. Sunak outlined his five promises to voters, one of which was to “stop the boats”.
A key part of the strategy is a plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, but legislation to implement the plan was not passed before Easter as peers inflicted a series of defeats on the government and ministers did not rush it through before the parliamentary recess.
The bill will now be considered by MPs when Parliament resumes on 15 April, with the Commons likely to reverse the latest changes made by the Lords and send it back to the upper house.
