The Liberal Democrats have called for the UK to join the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact in order to deal with small boat crossings in the Channel.
The European Union’s pact was introduced in June and aims to spread responsibility for asylum seekers across the bloc.
It implements mandatory screening and an updated database to track those arriving in the bloc. The rules of the pact also mean EU nations must help member states that see the highest number of arrivals, either by taking in migrants from those nations or by providing extra funding and resources.
Now, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said joining the pact would be the UK’s solution to help tackle the number of small boats crossing the Channel.
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Davey and his party argue it would allow the UK to return asylum seekers to the first EU country they entered. Whilst the UK would have to accept some asylum seekers from the EU if it were part of the pact, the Lib Dems say the overall number of asylum seekers entering the country would be lower than the current levels.
Although the UK would have to pay around £100m a year to participate in the scheme, Davey said this would pale in comparison to the £5bn spent on the asylum system at the moment.
Sir Ed also hit out at Nigel Farage and the Conservatives for “breaking our borders with their bad Brexit deal” and “exploiting the mess they created for their own gain.”
He said: “We have a plan that would finally end the small boats crisis: a pact with every EU country that will allow us to return people who come over the Channel, taking away the major pull factor that Farage and co created and destroying the business model of the criminal gangs.”
During an appearance on BBC Breakfast, the Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson said current efforts to address small boat crossings, such as the Labour government’s ‘one-in one-out’ deal with France, were unsustainable and that suggestions from Reform to deploy the Navy in the Channel would not stop crossings.
“The only way we’re going to stop small boats crossings, and do it in a fair way that’s good for taxpayers, good for communities and also upholds our historic committments to look after the world’s most vulnerable is by having a proper agreement with the entire EU,” he said.