PM has 'let the country down' over small boats - Elphicke

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "let the people of this country down" by not delivering on his pledge to stop small boat crossings, Natalie Elphicke has said.

The Dover MP, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on Wednesday, said an alternative plan set out by Sir Keir Starmer in Kent on Friday was "absolutely the right one for border security".

Speaking ahead of the Labour's leader's policy launch in Dover, Ms Elphicke said: "Nowhere is Rishi Sunak's lack of delivery clearer than on the issue of small boats".

Home Secretary James Cleverly said Labour's plans would "make the UK the asylum capital of the world". The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.

Sir Keir said a Labour government would expand counter-terror powers to cover people-smuggling gangs and create a new Border Security Command to coordinate efforts to stop crossings.

Ms Elphicke's constituency is the arrival point for many people who make the dangerous journey across the English Channel.

She told BBC South East: "I think it's absolutely the right [approach] for dealing with this issue.

She said the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as a deterrent for Channel crossings was a "gimmick".

"Rishi Sunak has not delivered on his pledge to stop the boats, he has let the people of this country down," she added.

The latest Home Office data on Channel crossings shows 211 people arrived in small boats on Thursday.

That brings the total for 2024 so far to 9,037.

A Home Office spokesperson said the "unacceptable" number “demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible".

Ms Elphicke has come under scrutiny since her dramatic and controversial defection.

Attention has been drawn to her previous criticism of Labour's stance on immigration and concerns that her political views do not align with the opposition party.

She told the BBC that Labour had "changed under Keir Starmer" and that she hoped people would see that she has "stood up for our community, stood up for our country".

Mr Cleverly said Labour has "no plan to stop the boats".

"Labour voted over 130 times against tougher legislation to stop the boats," he said. "They will create a haven for criminal gangs, not stop them".

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