Carole Malone Sends Andy Burnham a Strong Message After Britain Spent Nearly £1 Billion to Stop Small Boats

Columnist Carole Malone has strongly criticised the huge amount of money the UK has paid to France to help stop small boats crossing the English Channel. She questioned why Britain has committed close to £1 billion when, according to reports, French police officers have said they were instructed not to stop some migrant boats from leaving the beaches.

Malone argued that the situation has become both chaotic and tragic. She pointed to recent scenes in which hundreds of migrants rushed towards overcrowded inflatable boats, often described as “super dinghies,” trying to secure a place before they left for the UK. She also referred to reports that four people, including three women, died during these dangerous crossing attempts. In her view, these events show that the current strategy is not delivering the results that were promised.

She also challenged comments suggesting the Government’s plan is working. Malone argued that the recent drop in small boat arrivals was largely due to poor weather conditions rather than successful Government policies. Now that the weather has improved, she noted that crossings have increased again, with around 1,600 people arriving over the past ten days, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to more than 14,000.

Malone went on to say that Prime Minister Andy Burnham should focus less on other political projects and more on what she believes is one of the country’s biggest concerns: illegal immigration. She argued that many people across Britain want to see stronger action taken to reduce the number of small boat crossings instead of hearing about other Government priorities.

She also accused Burnham of avoiding difficult conversations about immigration. According to Malone, refusing to address the issue openly gives the impression that the Government does not have a clear solution to the problem. She believes the Prime Minister should make tackling illegal immigration a top priority and push for greater accountability over the money Britain has already paid to France. In her opinion, if the current arrangements are not producing the expected results, the Government should demand answers from the French authorities and seek to recover taxpayers’ money if the agreement has failed to deliver what was promised.