(ITV) Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” means a “dramatic reduction” in the number of illegal Channel crossings, the home secretary has told ITV News, but she would not put a timescale on the commitment.
The policy has become one of the prime minister’s top five priorities but under repeated questioning from ITV News, Home Secretary Suella Braverman was unable to qualify what achieving that goal would actually mean.
“Stopping the boat means fixing our problem relating to illegal migration. Last year we saw over 40,000 people arrive via small boats on the Channel to the United Kingdom. We need to stop that,” she said.
So far this year, some 1,442 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK, according to Home Office figures, and a record 45,755 succeeded in making the trip last year.
