How can Priti Patel stop migrant crossings?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2021

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Priti Patel has blamed the European Union's freedom of movement for the 'mass migration crisis' that Britain is facing. In a visit to Washington, the Home Secretary said: 'the real problem on illegal migration flows is the EU has no border protections whatsoever — Schengen open borders'. Tories MPs are reportedly frustrated at the government's failure to stop the flow of migrants getting boats across the channel, so what should Priti Patel do? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

'I think this is a little bit like a sailor complaining about the sea. It is more diplomatic than blaming the French. So in some ways it's an improvement. But it's very hard to think that the UK is in control of its borders when every night on the news you're seeing pictures of people climbing out of dinghies on the south coast.' – James Forsyth

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast is sponsored by Canacord Genuity Wealth Management.
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0:25.0	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, the Spectator's Daily Politics podcast. I'm Cindy Yu and I'm joined by James Forsyth and Katie Balls. So Pretty Patel hasn't
0:30.7	solved the problem of migrants coming across the channel, but she does have some idea of who is to blame.
0:36.2	Katie, what's been going on here with the rhetoric?
0:38.9	So the channel crossings have been a problem that has been rising, I think, in political potency in recent months.
0:44.1	The Prime Minister has been worried about it for some time in the sense that not only are the number of legal immigrants coming over through the channel,
0:52.2	notably high, higher than previous years.
0:55.0	It's also the case that when it comes to this idea of taking back control and Brexit,
0:59.0	it's the area where in number 10 they worry they're particularly vulnerable images of,
1:03.0	you know, people arriving on the shores, they think is corrosive to that idea.
1:06.9	And Priti Patel has been under pressure to find a solution.
1:10.3	It's part of the reason I had to reshuffle.
1:12.1	There were questions about whether she would stay in position
1:14.3	because it's hard to come up with a solution to this.
1:17.7	Now, Pridipatel has now blamed the EU's open borders
1:20.5	for spurring a mass migration crisis in the channel.
1:23.8	She said the Schengen Agreement,
1:25.1	which abolished borders among member states,
1:27.2	had their France overwhelmed,
	...

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