‘We’re facing a crisis in the English Channel. I will take urgent action!’

LIZ TRUSS’S LEADERSHIP BATTLE

- David Williamson

FOREIGN Secretary Liz Truss yesterday warned of a “crisis in the English Channel” and pledged to do more to stop illegal crossings in small boats if she becomes prime minister.

The Tory leadership contender received a boost when she won the strong endorsement of Dover MP Natalie Elphicke – one of Parliament’s most ardent opponents of illegal immigration.

Ms Elphicke said Ms Truss’s plans would ensure that people-smuggling gangs no longer have a “free ride”.

Ms Truss wants to strengthen the Government’s policy of sending people to Rwanda for asylum processing and hopes to forge similar partnerships with other countries.

She further plans to increase the frontline Border Force by 20 per cent.

She said: “This is the only way to deter the traffickers and stop the small boats.”

Ms Truss’s intervention comes as Tory Party members receive their ballots to vote in the leadership election.

This year more than 13,000 migrants have crossed the Channel, with 696 people making the journey last Monday alone. Last year the number making the crossing soared to 28,526 from 8,404 in 2020.