Former Border Force chief explains how to stop migrant boats | LBC
July 16, 2020
76,146
1,499
333
2.41%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Lbc Episodes Around July 16, 2020
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
3:22Now PlayingFormer Border Force chief explains how to stop migrant boats | LBC
YouTube Description
as posted by the channel"The only way to stop the boats is to effect instant returns," a former UK Border Force chief tells LBC how to stop migrant boats coming to the UK.
Tony Smith a former UK Border Force chief told LBC's Tom Swarbrick that stopping migrants attempting to cross the English Channel was a question of "trying to break the cycle."
He said it was similar to the situation in the Mediterranean and in Greece.
The immigration expert said the only way to stop migrants making the dangerous crossing was by effecting "instant returns" and sending those who are caught back to France, straight away.
"But, unfortunately, in order to do that it requires a bilateral agreement with the French, and it seems at the moment the French aren't prepared to tango," Mr Smith said.
Tom pointed out that the Home Secretary Priti Patel said there were instances when the French authorities were not working to prevent migrants from attempting the crossing to the UK, with some of those boats just "250 yards away from the French coast."
Mr Smith said this was due to the French Government's interpretation of maritime law.
He revealed that, while the whole area of law is quite complex, one thing that is clear is that when a migrant is on board a UK vessel "then we are duty-bound to bring them ashore and 8make sure they're safe and well, and then they claim asylum."
"If we can't return them to France immediately, because France is a safe country, we don't have an agreement for that," he said, "then people are going to keep coming because they can see that success is simply to push off from the French coastline and get picked up by a British vessel."
#TomSwarbrick #BorderForce #LBC
LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs. We let you join the conversation and hold politicians to account.
Subscribe for more
Watch More Here:
The Latest Coronavirus Videos
The Latest Brexit Videos
The Best Of James O’Brien
The Best Of Iain Dale
The Latest Donald Trump Videos
Join in the conversation and listen at
Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here
Like, follow and subscribe to LBC!
This is not your ordinary talk radio stream. LBC is the leading YouTube channel for live debate around the news and current affairs. We have live interviews and debates and you can even phone in to join in the conversation.
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.