Sajid Javid is accused by his own MPs of bungling ‘Dad’s Army’ response to migrant crisis
Home Secretary Sajid Javid thebritishherald
Home Secretary Sajid Javid was last night forced to cut short a safari in South Africa amid a growing outcry over his ‘Dad’s Army’ handling of the Channel migrant crisis.
Mr Javid bowed to pressure to abandon his luxury break after MPs from his own party lined up to demand action – with one calling for the seizure of the French boats that migrants are using to reach Britain.
Mr Javid was yesterday packing his bags in a resort in Kruger National Park to race to
The dash by Mr Javid – a frontrunner for the party leadership – came as: He assured The Mail on Sunday that he was working urgently to stop the crossings ‘before innocent lives are lost’; It was claimed that up to 66 migrants had sneaked into Britain after crossing the Channel on Christmas Day alone;
Fingers were pointed at the French authorities for failing to stem the human tide; Three Afghan men suspected of masterminding the cross-channel people-smuggling trade were arrested in France.
Responding to claims that 66 people made it to the UK on Christmas Day, the Home Office said they had records of 40 who had arrived after crossing the Channel.
Reports suggest that the number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel to England has hit more than 220 since the start of November.
The ‘blue-on-blue’ attacks on Mr Javid were led by Dover MP Charlie Elphicke, who uses an article in today’s Mail on Sunday to condemn the Home Secretary’s ‘half-hearted Dad’s Army type set-up’.
Mr Elphicke called for more patrol boats to be deployed in the Channel, and said: ‘For too long the Home Office has not been taking this seriously enough, and the crisis has continued to escalate.’
