French are being lax on migrant Channel crossings, says former NATO Commander
7 August 2020, 07:52 | Updated: 7 August 2020, 09:54
French are being lax on migrant crossings, former NATO Commander says
The French authorities should be doing their duty and stopping the migrant boats crossing The Channel, a former NATO Commander told LBC.
A new record has been set for the number of migrants crossing the Channel in a single day. Border Force officials say 235 people were intercepted yesterday.
A Commons inquiry is going to look into the reasons behind the huge increase in Channel crossings by migrants.
But Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a former Director General at the Ministry of Defence, told LBC that France should be doing a lot more.
Speaking to Tom Swarbrick, he said: "I would hope that before people even got into the boats the French would actually do their duty.
"There's no doubt about it that the French are being incredibly lax with letting these people leave France. They are perfectly safe there, they don't have to come to the United Kingdom.
"They don't have to hazard themselves in the middle of the Channel. France, as far as I know, is perfectly safe for people coming from other countries.
"I think the French have a duty on their own coasts to do this, just as we would have a duty here to stop criminals, migrants or any other groups of people crossing the Channel and going to France."
Watch his interview at the top of the page.
