James Cleverly has defended his opposition to a new immigration detention centre in his own constituency, even as he urges his French counterparts to do more to solve the small boats issue.
The foreign secretary insisted that a former RAF base in his Essex constituency of Braintree would not be suitable for 1,500 male asylum seekers, despite the site having been shortlisted by the Home Office as potential accommodation.
Cleverly was speaking from Paris, where he and other senior ministers, including the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, are hoping to persuade the French government to do more to stop people crossing the Channel on small boats.
Cleverly told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday: “MDP Wethersfield in my constituency … is … very remote from any other kind of social infrastructure.”
He added: “We are going to be looking at a range of places and, as you say, I put my thoughts forward. Ultimately no decision has been made and I will continue to support the work of my good friends in the Home Office to make sure we get a grip of the situation.”
Cleverly’s opposition to using the base to house refugees highlights the complications involved in trying to fulfil Sunak’s promise of stopping the small boat crossings altogether.
Earlier this week the prime minister launched a new bill which will place a legal duty on ministers to detain and deport anyone who enters the country by irregular means, such as across the Channel.
Legal experts have warned the plans are likely to breach human rights laws, but they could also pose a logistical headache for any government trying to enforce them. Last year a record 45,000 people made the journey in boats from France. All of them would need to be detained under the new law.
Cleverly said the impact of the bill would be reduced by the fact that not all migrants would need to be detained at the same time. “It’s not that the whole cohort will need to be detained indefinitely whilst we’re going through that,” he told the BBC. “That’s why I made the point that the numbers we’re talking about just don’t stack up.”
Another key element of the government’s plan, however, is to drastically reduce the number of people who attempt such crossings. On Friday Sunak and Cleverly will spend the day in Paris alongside other ministers including Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, and Grant Shapps, the energy secretary.
Sunak ideally wants a deal with Emmanuel Macron to be able to return to France anyone who crosses the Channel. UK officials believe, however, that the French president is unlikely to agree, and will instead focus on thrashing out a new EU-wide returns deal.
Macron meanwhile is hoping to persuade the UK to help pay for policing efforts in northern France, with the Times reporting that Sunak is ready to offer up to £200m over three years to stop crossings “at source”.
Nathalie Loiseau, a French MEP, dismissed the idea of a bilateral returns deal, telling the BBC on Friday morning: “The UK decided to leave the European Union, so there is no bilateral agreement possible.”
