Send soldiers to France to stop gangs smuggling migrants, says Tory MP

BRITISH troops should be deployed to patrol the beaches along with northern France amid a growing migration crisis, an MP has said.

- Michael Knowles

A survey has shown three-quarters of Tory voters believe the Government is too soft on the issue. Tory MPs yesterday warned the Conservatives will lose votes if they do not offer an effective solution.

One of the MPs, who said Britain’s current handling of the arrivals “looks like a state failure”, suggested a deal with Paris to allow UK police and Border Force to catch people smugglers and protect asylum seekers.

Craig Mackinlay, Tory MP for South Thanet in Kent, said that British troops could carry out patrols in a bid to quell the record numbers of migrants crossing the sea with the help of people smuggling gangs.

He pointed towards Poland’s plea for international assistance from allies to resolve its own migrant crisis.

Thousands, mainly from the Middle East, have sought to cross into the European Union at the frontier between Poland and Belarus in recent weeks.

Around 100 soldiers from the Royal Engineers are being deployed to the Polish border with Belarus to help physically reinforce the Polish border.