CONSERVATIVE MP Tobias Ellwood has said the Uk is chasing ‘fantasy policies’ as it looks to tackle the ongoing migrant crisis.

Speaking to GB News presenter Michael Portillo, Ellwood told GB News it would get more serious before it gets better.

He said: “When it comes to migration, immigration, these are very, very sensitive subjects. It came up during the summer, with huge headlines being made and great big promises about how we’re going to fix this, by sending people to Rwanda and pushing the Navy out in order to send these boats back.

“And we’re beginning to realise that this is a far more complicated problem.

“I would say before going into the details, this problem is going to get significantly more serious over the next decade, not just in Dover, but Europe as well because of the consequences of climate change.

“There’s going to be parts of Africa and Asia, which will become inhospitable. You won’t be able to grow crops there, the states will have problems in controlling issues, and people will then flood in biblical numbers to Europe, including the UK.

“We have to get this right, we have to look at the source of the problem. That’s why people choose to take the biggest decision of their lives to pack up, turn their backs on places like Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan and so forth. Countries ironically, that Britain and other international groups have stepped forward to try and help and then for some reason, became impatient and decided to depart.

“Then there’s the gang issues, of course, which we’re not really focusing on collectively. And then the biggest issue, I’m afraid which are the links to Brexit.

“When we pulled out of the EU, we then removed ourselves from the Dublin agreement, which then allowed us to send people back to the first safe country that an asylum seeker may have actually applied to.

“A lot of work needs to be done here to get this right. But at the moment, we’re chasing almost fantasy policies.”

Ellwood’s comments come as the number of migrants arriving in the UK has hit the highest number ever recorded, according to latest official figures.

The Office for National Statistics confirmed that 504,000 more people came to the UK than left in the year to June this year.

That figure beats the previous highest record of 390,000 in 2015. The figures from the ONS reveal that more than a million people arrived in the UK last year.

According to the official analysis the bulk of the increase was driven by arrivals from non-EU nationals, students and those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

The Home Office also confirmed that in the first nine months of 2022, around 200,000 visas were granted to Ukrainian nationals.

Albanians were the top nationality arriving by small boat in 2022. Albanians accounted for 13,650 asylum applications in the year ending September 2022, half of those claims originated from small boat arrivals. And 72,000 applications for asylum were made in the last year, close to the previous record peak of applications in 2002.

A staggering 77 per cent of initial asylum applications were granted, according to the Home Office, the highest rate in more than 30 years.

However, figures reveal that only 10 per cent of Albanian males are granted asylum. The Home Office also confirmed that the proportion of Albanians arriving by small boats had begun to slow in recent weeks.