BRITAIN is attracting illegal migrants because we have become “the soft touch of Europe”, according to former Brexit secretary David Davis.

Asked about the Prime Minister’s new to deal with migration, he told GB News: “He’s being a bit careful for the simple reason that there are two routes, two legal routes that the bogus asylum seekers pursue, one is asylum, and the other one is some form of claim under the Modern Slavery Act. Neither of those really should apply from a safe country like Albania.

“Albania isn’t the only safe country, Sweden lists about six I think, including Albania, Mongolia, Serbia and so on. Rishi Sunak was basically focusing mostly on the operational changes…but by themselves, they won’t break the back of the problem.

“The reason over 60 MPs wrote a letter was to point out the obvious that Albania is a safe country. It’s got fewer references in the European Court in the last five years than most other countries in Europe.

“The problem is that we have become the soft touch of Europe. The Albanian gangs organising these crossings spotted that and that’s why we’ve gone from nothing to 40,000 in less than two years.

“We have to put that right and that’s going to be critical. I think he knows that. I think he’s basically tiptoeing slightly towards it, because he’s got to get his way through the morass of previous legislation from the Home Office.”

Mr Davis said: “The Rwanda scheme isn’t working at all at the moment. It’s in the courts, but even if it does, you’ll only get a couple of hundred to go to Rwanda.

“So that won’t have an effect. The odds, as it were, are in favour of the migrant.”