The Home Secretary is unwilling to commit to a specific timeline for addressing the issue of small boats arriving in the Channel, even as the number of arrivals has exceeded 35,000 this year.
Yvette Cooper acknowledged that the current number of arrivals is excessively high but stopped short of establishing a deadline for reducing this figure.
In an interview with the BBC, she emphasized that the government’s approach to the situation would not rely on simplistic slogans.
“There is a history of Home Secretaries and Prime Ministers making grand promises but never actually having a plan.”
Ms Cooper said she is taking a “step by step” approach, which will include strong returns agreements and law enforcement.
She insisted that lacking a target did not mean migration was not a top priority.
And she did not rule out processing asylum claims in a third country despite the Labour Government axing the Tories’ Rwanda scheme.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp yesterday said: “You need a deterrent to stop the boats.
“Law enforcement alone is not enough.”
He compared the Rwanda scheme with a similar project which he said “completely stopped” boats crossing from Indonesia to Australia.
Home Office Minister Angela Eagle also said yesterday it wasn’t possible to know how many undocumented migrants are in the UK.
