Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has criticised Reform UK’s plan to stop small boats crossing the Channel as “half baked” and “written on the back of a fag packet”.
He told GB News: “I’ve got no problem in principle with direct action on boats, but as usual with a Reform announcement it is half baked and written on the back of a fag packet. They can’t answer basic questions like what would they do if the French won’t allow the illegal immigrants to be disembarked. They also have no plan to properly fund our military, whereas the Conservatives do.
“So look at the plan that we have, the proper, credible plan that is capable of working that the Conservatives published last year is our borders plan that involves leaving the ECHR, which will enable us to deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival.
“No human rights claim, no asylum claim, no modern slavery claim, no hotel, no legal aid, and no court process, just immediate deportation back to their country of origin, if that’s possible, or a safe third country like Rwanda, if not. And that gets around the problem of the French refusing to take them back, which is the issue with this morning’s announcement.
“Our plan is credible, properly thought out, and detailed, and it would work as a deterrent because the illegal immigrants in France circulating in France would not bother crossing to the UK if they knew they would immediately get kicked out and deported.
“A similar approach worked in Australia about 13 years ago. A similar approach worked in America with their crossings over the Mexican border last year in the spring of last year, and it would work here as well. So we’ve got a proper, credible plan to fix this. And I saw myself in France. I was out there.”
On the prospect of a deal between Reform UK and Restore Britain, he said: “Obviously Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage had a massive falling out because Mr Farage has quite a fragile ego and didn’t like the fact that Rupert Lowe was getting attention a year or two ago. So I think they’re fighting like rats in a sack.
“There’s only one credible party on the right that actually has policies that will work that thinks things through in detail, and that’s the Conservative Party. I mentioned a minute ago our plan to deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. A similar approach would apply to foreign criminals as well.
“We’re the only party with credible policies that have been properly thought out. It’s very easy for Reform to come up with these slogans, but they’re not properly thought out. Like this announcement today, it’s just done in a panic on the back of a fag packet, it hasn’t been properly thought out.
“When it comes to the economy, cutting welfare and cutting taxes, we Conservatives have a properly thought-out plan to cut welfare and cut taxes and ease the cost of living crisis. We’ve done the proper thinking.”