Sir Keir Starmer has "more to do" to deal with the Channel crossing crisis, a Labour Minister has admitted.Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander faced a grilling from GB News's Camilla Tominey over Sir Keir Starmer's deal with French President Emmanuel Macron.FULL STORY HERE.
00:00This migrant deal, my producer Elizabeth has worked out that this deal will in fact be the equivalent of turning back less than one full boat of migrants a week.
00:12Apparently the average number of migrants in a boat is about 64. This will return just 50 per week.
00:20So pardon the pun, it's just a drop in the ocean, isn't it?
00:22Well actually it's really important that we've got an international agreement with France because previous governments, conservative government, failed to do this.
00:33And the only way we're going to solve this problem is by working with the French authorities.
00:38This is a pilot scheme. We're keen to see the scheme ramp up if it's successful.
00:44We're also working with the French authorities on making sure that they can take action in the shallow waters, in the French waters off the coast of France to be able to stop small boats from reaching our shores in the first place.
00:59We have, by working with France, prevented about 12,000 channel crossings since we came to power.
01:05But there's more to do. Your viewers may have seen some of the footage of the French authorities puncturing the dinghies in the shallow waters a couple of weeks ago.
01:15The gangs who are smuggling people across the channel have changed their tactics and it's appropriate that the French authorities change their tactics too.
01:24And part of the work we have been doing with the French is to get them to review their maritime laws so that they can adapt their techniques as well.
01:32And we welcome that.
01:34Well, I mean, puncturing dinghies is surely the least the French can do, not least because they've trousered £500 million worth of UK taxpayers' cash.
01:43Yes, we've seen them puncture dinghies.
01:45But then there's some footage today showing that there are a load of migrants disappearing over a hill while police in Calais take selfies of the dinghy that they have punctured and not chasing after those who have tried to enter our country illegally.
02:00Well, we're going to work with the French authorities in a whole manner of different ways to tackle this problem.
02:09You know, if you think back 20 years when there was a massive problem with stowaways on lorries that were coming through the channel tunnel,
02:18people were very dubious about the fact that we would be able to crack down on that problem.
02:23But by working with the French authorities and putting some really robust and rigorous processes in place, we were able to solve that problem.
02:31What the agreement with the French government does is it breaks the business model of these smuggling gangs.
02:38These are very sophisticated criminal gangs operating across multiple jurisdictions.
02:43That's why it's so important that in the last year we have made arrests in places like France and Germany, as well as in England and Wales,
02:52and why we're seeing prosecutions happening as well, because we've got to take some of the kingpins out of these international criminal gangs.
03:00So, you know, we're taking action on a whole variety of fronts, working with our international partners,
03:06setting up the new border security command and giving them counter-terrorism style powers to deal with the people
03:12that are profiteering from this trade in human beings at the moment.
03:17We're also, of course, taking action, just to reassure your viewers, on the people who don't have any right to be in the UK.
03:23And over, I think it was around 30,000 people have been removed from the UK who don't have a right to be here,
03:30don't have any permission to be in the country.
03:32And that's significantly up on the removals that took place under the last government.
03:37Okay, I mean, small boat crossings are at record highs.
03:40We're playing record high amounts on migrant hotels and such like.
03:43But let's move on to the economy.
03:45There's an interesting double page spread in the Observer today, headlined UK PLC is in a fix.
03:51We've got suggestions that the non-DOM clampdown is going to cost £4 billion.
03:56We've got all businesses, big and small, against the workers' rights bill that Angela Rayner is trying to push through Parliament.
04:02And now we've got Downing Street refusing to rule out a wealth tax.
04:07How is that going to help growth, Heidi Alexander?
04:09So what we saw in the first three months of this year was the British economy outperforming all other economies in the G7,
04:20which is the collection of most advanced economies in the world.
04:24And so when we stood for election last year, we said that we would get the economy firing on all cylinders.
04:30We're not going to be able to do this overnight.
04:32The previous government, the Conservatives, tanked the economy over 14 years.
04:37There was stagnant growth during that time.
04:39We're not going to be able to change everything overnight.
04:42But what I would say, Camilla, is that the fact that we have secured £120 billion of inward investment
04:49since we came into office is a sign of international capital looking at the UK as a place where they want to invest.
04:57In fact, Deloitte produced a report a couple of weeks ago saying that once we had done that U.S. trade deal,
05:03it is actually one of the, if not the most attractive place for global investors to come and set up businesses
05:12and expand their operations.
05:14Hang on a minute. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on.
05:14Hang on. The Chancellor herself back in 2022 tweeted this.
05:20GDP figures see dramatic drop to 0.1% in March.
05:24We must have an emergency budget.
05:28So last week, the economy shrunk by 0.1%,
05:31exactly the same figure that Rachel Reeves cited in 2022 calling for an emergency budget.
05:38So when the economy shrinks under the Conservatives, it's a national emergency.
05:43When it shrinks under Rachel Reeves, everything is going swimmingly.
05:47You can't possibly convince people that the economy right now is in a good state
05:52when you've even got the Observer, which is left-leaning, saying that the economy is tanking.
06:00So look, GDP figures do bump around from month to month.
06:04If you consider the overall picture of the British economy having secured three trade deals,
06:09one with the US, one with the European Union, one with India, those are all trade deals that the previous government
06:18sought to agree.
06:19The Conservatives tried for years to get an India free trade deal and never succeeded.
06:24We have come into office and we have done that.
06:26When I speak to businesses in my constituency about the we have the fastest growing economy out of the G7 countries
06:35in the first three months of this year.
06:37Of course, we want to go further.
06:39That was before the April changes kicked in.
06:40Of course, we want to see more economic growth.
06:43So look, you know, we have also, since the election, created nearly 400,000 jobs.
06:50We have seen four interest rates since we have come to power.
06:53Hiring is a down by 270,000.
06:58Look, when I speak to people in my constituency, businesses and ordinary householders,
07:04what they are interested in is do I feel better off and do I have more confidence in the economy.
07:12And so, look, of course we have got more to do and we are never going to be complacent
07:17because, you know, making sure that we grow the economy so that we can invest in public services,
07:22our schools and hospitals, is the number one priority of this government.
