Britain’s migration crisis, explained
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2022
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Home Secretary Suella Braverman is at the centre of a migration crisis after the Manston immigration centre was reported as unsafe, understaffed and 'wretched' by the borders watchdog. So, how did the situation unfold, what are the politics behind it and what do we know about the people risking their lives crossing the Channel to come to the UK?
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Matt Dathan, Home Affairs Editor, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips: Sky News, ITV News, BBC News, Times Radio.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | On Monday night, as Rishi Soonak attended COP27, he made it clear that the climate wasn't |
| 0:12.2 | the only crisis he was there to address. |
| 0:15.2 | I'm actually leaving this with renewed confidence and optimism that working together with our |
| 0:19.6 | European partners, we can make a difference, grip this challenge of illegal migration and |
| 0:24.2 | stop people coming illegally. |
| 0:26.5 | Number 10 says the government is about to sign a deal with France in a desperate bid to |
| 0:32.2 | tackle the channel migrant crisis. |
| 0:34.9 | For months now, the number of people making dangerous journeys in small boats and dinghies |
| 0:41.7 | has been rapidly rising. |
| 0:44.0 | If you take a look down here into the harbour, you'll see some of the inflatables that |
| 0:48.6 | had been brought ashore recently, and yesterday the MOD said 1,295 people arrived in 27 boats. |
| 0:58.1 | Most of them had as many as 50 people crammed on board. |
| 1:02.8 | But the record number of migrant crossings is putting unprecedented demands on the RNLI |
| 1:08.8 | and divides some in the Kent communities they pass through. |
| 1:13.2 | The sheer numbers and a series of controversial home office decisions have led to thousands |
| 1:19.9 | being stranded at a processing centre in Kent, where they face appalling conditions. |
| 1:27.0 | We've had reports of cases of scabies, of diphtheria of MRSA. |
| 1:32.8 | Back in Westminster, the home secretary has admitted that the system is broken, but |
| 1:39.8 | she's also been ratcheting up the rhetoric. |
| 1:44.0 | The British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion |
| 1:51.6 | on our southern coast, and which party is not. |
| 1:57.6 | Politics aside, what's really going on with the flow of people into the UK? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

