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| Cameron's grip on Calais crisis in doubt amid pledges of sniffer dogs and fencing | Cameron's grip on Calais crisis in doubt amid pledges of sniffer dogs and fencing |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Extra sniffer dogs and fencing are to be sent to France as David Cameron warned that the Calais migrant crisis is likely to lengthen into a summer of discontent on both sides of the Channel. | Extra sniffer dogs and fencing are to be sent to France as David Cameron warned that the Calais migrant crisis is likely to lengthen into a summer of discontent on both sides of the Channel. |
| Related: The Guardian view on Cameron and Calais: strategy not swarms | Editorial | Related: The Guardian view on Cameron and Calais: strategy not swarms | Editorial |
| The prime minister also promised that Ministry of Defence land will be drafted into use to ease transport gridlock on the M20 around Dover, with the announcement that a car park with space for 1,000 lorries at Ebbsfleet International station is to be pressed into service. | |
| Cameron, who is due to go on holiday next week, pledged to leave behind a “team of senior ministers” to work to deal with a situation that has seen more than 4,000 attempted incursions this week, albeit mostly unsuccessful. | Cameron, who is due to go on holiday next week, pledged to leave behind a “team of senior ministers” to work to deal with a situation that has seen more than 4,000 attempted incursions this week, albeit mostly unsuccessful. |
| “This is going to be a difficult issue right across the summer,” he said after an emergency Whitehall Cobra meeting held to discuss the Calais crisis. “We rule nothing out in taking action to deal with this very serious problem.” | “This is going to be a difficult issue right across the summer,” he said after an emergency Whitehall Cobra meeting held to discuss the Calais crisis. “We rule nothing out in taking action to deal with this very serious problem.” |
| Related: People smuggling: how it works, who benefits and how it can be stopped | Clár Ní Chonghaile | |
| He admitted that illegal migrant incursions, such as that publicised in extraordinary pictures of two migrants clinging to the roof of a lorry as it left the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone after arriving from Calais early on Friday, had caused unacceptable disruption on both sides of the Channel. | |
| The prime minister tried to underline his desire to get a firm grip on the crisis on his return from this week’s trip promoting British business in south-east Asia, by stressing his “hand in glove” co-operation with the French in a phone call with President François Hollande. | The prime minister tried to underline his desire to get a firm grip on the crisis on his return from this week’s trip promoting British business in south-east Asia, by stressing his “hand in glove” co-operation with the French in a phone call with President François Hollande. |
| But this impression was somewhat undermined when it quickly became apparent that much of the package announced after the Cobra meeting was at an early stage of development. | But this impression was somewhat undermined when it quickly became apparent that much of the package announced after the Cobra meeting was at an early stage of development. |
| Downing Street clarified that the promise of further new fencing to secure the Eurotunnel platform at Coquelles will not be delivered until next weekend. | Downing Street clarified that the promise of further new fencing to secure the Eurotunnel platform at Coquelles will not be delivered until next weekend. |
| In the meantime, extra UK Border Force search and dog teams will be sent to try to provide 24-hour cover to prevent the nightly penetration of the perimeter fence by scores, if not hundreds, of migrants. | In the meantime, extra UK Border Force search and dog teams will be sent to try to provide 24-hour cover to prevent the nightly penetration of the perimeter fence by scores, if not hundreds, of migrants. |
| Eurotunnel said that from now on their night-time trains will now leave from the platforms in the centre of the Coquelles terminal in “protected shuttles”. | Eurotunnel said that from now on their night-time trains will now leave from the platforms in the centre of the Coquelles terminal in “protected shuttles”. |
| The promise of MoD land to be used to ease the congestion on the M20, that has been closed on 27 out of the last 40 days as part of the Operation Stack traffic control procedure, was said to be in a “very early stage of development”. At its peak, more than 7,000 lorries have been held in a queue 36 miles long, waiting to cross the Channel. | The promise of MoD land to be used to ease the congestion on the M20, that has been closed on 27 out of the last 40 days as part of the Operation Stack traffic control procedure, was said to be in a “very early stage of development”. At its peak, more than 7,000 lorries have been held in a queue 36 miles long, waiting to cross the Channel. |
| Related: Britain’s island mentality is making the Calais migrant crisis all the more difficult | Deborah Orr | |
| “To alleviate the pressure in Kent, urgent options are being pursued to create alternative parking zones,” said a Downing Street spokeswoman. “Ministry of Defence planners and Department of Transport officials are working closely with local agencies to rapidly agree a way forward, including the option of temporarily parking freight overspill at Ebbsfleet. Increasing ferry capacity on different routes is also being explored,” she said. | “To alleviate the pressure in Kent, urgent options are being pursued to create alternative parking zones,” said a Downing Street spokeswoman. “Ministry of Defence planners and Department of Transport officials are working closely with local agencies to rapidly agree a way forward, including the option of temporarily parking freight overspill at Ebbsfleet. Increasing ferry capacity on different routes is also being explored,” she said. |
| Season ticket holders at Ebbsfleet station were told on Friday they would not be able to use one of the four car parks that has now been set aside to hold up to 1,000 lorries. But this is only a partial solution to ease the pressure on the M20. | Season ticket holders at Ebbsfleet station were told on Friday they would not be able to use one of the four car parks that has now been set aside to hold up to 1,000 lorries. But this is only a partial solution to ease the pressure on the M20. |
| The new immigration bill, which includes powers to tackle illegal working and abuse of the asylum system, would be “sped up” and introduced as soon as parliament returns in September, Downing Street added. | The new immigration bill, which includes powers to tackle illegal working and abuse of the asylum system, would be “sped up” and introduced as soon as parliament returns in September, Downing Street added. |
| Related: Calais crisis: 'It’s easier to leave us living like this if you say we are bad people' | Related: Calais crisis: 'It’s easier to leave us living like this if you say we are bad people' |
| Efforts to reduce the number of migrants in Calais – estimated to be as high as 5,000 – will also be stepped up. The Home Office has said the top five nationalities were Syrian, Eritrean, Sudanese, Iranian and Iraqi, and there are renewed efforts to persuade migrants to register in France rather than attempt to travel to Britain. | Efforts to reduce the number of migrants in Calais – estimated to be as high as 5,000 – will also be stepped up. The Home Office has said the top five nationalities were Syrian, Eritrean, Sudanese, Iranian and Iraqi, and there are renewed efforts to persuade migrants to register in France rather than attempt to travel to Britain. |
| Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, was less than impressed with the package: “Quite simply the measures I’ve just heard from David Cameron aren’t enough. They are just sticking plasters in terms of trying to resolve this problem. The threats these hauliers are facing every day is unacceptable. The impact financially on the haulage industry and the broader UK economy is unbelievable,” he said. | Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, was less than impressed with the package: “Quite simply the measures I’ve just heard from David Cameron aren’t enough. They are just sticking plasters in terms of trying to resolve this problem. The threats these hauliers are facing every day is unacceptable. The impact financially on the haulage industry and the broader UK economy is unbelievable,” he said. |
| The extra dogs and fencing amount to a recognition that, despite measures agreed at Monday’s Cobra meeting chaired by the home secretary, Theresa May, extra work to install fencing, particularly at Coquelles, has not yet secured the railhead, as the nightly pictures of migrants breaking through have documented. | The extra dogs and fencing amount to a recognition that, despite measures agreed at Monday’s Cobra meeting chaired by the home secretary, Theresa May, extra work to install fencing, particularly at Coquelles, has not yet secured the railhead, as the nightly pictures of migrants breaking through have documented. |
| Related: We can't stop the flow of migrants to Europe. Rehousing them is our only option | Patrick Kingsley | |
| Kent’s chief constable, Alan Pughsley, warned MPs three weeks ago that alternative lorry parks close to the M20 were needed to keep traffic on the move. | Kent’s chief constable, Alan Pughsley, warned MPs three weeks ago that alternative lorry parks close to the M20 were needed to keep traffic on the move. |
| He warned that, for example, it would be difficult to use the privately owned Manston airport because it would mean lorries would have to escorted over to a new lorry park there (each lorry is given a place in the queue under Operation Stack). Ebbsfleet station, near Dartford, is the other side of Kent to Dover and so may pose some of these problems. | |
| The chief constable warned MPs that, while police had the power to direct lorries on the public highway to comply with Operation Stack, they did not have the power to direct lorries to stay in a private parking area. Officials would need to resolve these legal aspects before such options could be used. | The chief constable warned MPs that, while police had the power to direct lorries on the public highway to comply with Operation Stack, they did not have the power to direct lorries to stay in a private parking area. Officials would need to resolve these legal aspects before such options could be used. |
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