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I had knife pulled on me in migrant camp, says Conservative shadow minister | I had knife pulled on me in migrant camp, says Conservative shadow minister |
(32 minutes later) | |
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has said he was pelted with bottles and had a knife pulled on him while speaking to migrants in a camp in northern France. | Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has said he was pelted with bottles and had a knife pulled on him while speaking to migrants in a camp in northern France. |
The Conservative MP posted a video on social media discussing the incident with Daily Express journalist Zak Garner-Purkis who has accompanied him on his visit to France. | The Conservative MP posted a video on social media discussing the incident with Daily Express journalist Zak Garner-Purkis who has accompanied him on his visit to France. |
In the clip, Philp says: "I found it pretty shocking - you said behind me somebody had pulled out some sort of machete and we left pretty quickly." | In the clip, Philp says: "I found it pretty shocking - you said behind me somebody had pulled out some sort of machete and we left pretty quickly." |
Mr Garner-Purkis says the man was "swinging it around in the air" adding: "It was, clear he was doing it to send a message to the other people there - whether it was a case of 'don't speak'." | Mr Garner-Purkis says the man was "swinging it around in the air" adding: "It was, clear he was doing it to send a message to the other people there - whether it was a case of 'don't speak'." |
In the video, the two men are recounting the incident while walking along the side of a road at which point objects can be seen being thrown at them. | In the video, the two men are recounting the incident while walking along the side of a road at which point objects can be seen being thrown at them. |
Mr Garner-Purkis says "they are throwing bottles at us" and Philp says: "Right, we've got to go." | Mr Garner-Purkis says "they are throwing bottles at us" and Philp says: "Right, we've got to go." |
Philp has said he has been visiting the north coast of France to "find out more about what's happening on the ground with the illegal migration crisis". | |
The number of people trying to get to the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats has been increasing for around eight years. | |
Since 2018, when figures were first recorded, more than 170,000 people have arrived in small boats. | |
In 2022, 45,755 made the journey, in 2024 it was 37,000 and as of 11 August this year, 27,029 people have arrived in the UK. | |
In a bid to reduce numbers, the Labour government has taken steps to "smash the gangs" that organise crossings including spending £100m to fund 300 National Crime Agency officers to tackle people-smugglers. | |
It has also reached a 'one-in, one-out' agreement to send some arrivals back to France and in exchange, the UK will take in asylum seekers in France who have not tried to make the crossing. | |
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the deal was a "product of months of grown-up diplomacy" which would "deliver real results". | |
The Conservatives have criticised the government for scrapping their Rwanda plan which aimed to send arrivals to the East African country where they would have had their asylum applications processed. | |
Earlier this week, Philp said: "Labour tore up our deterrents before they were even in place, and the results are there in black and white. | |
"When I went to the Channel to see Labour's France returns deal in action, the truth was obvious. Within half an hour of arriving off the French coast, I watched two packed dinghies being escorted into UK waters. Every illegal migrant should be removed immediately upon arrival." |