Lord Cameron has faced criticism from Reform UK leader Richard Tice for suggesting that Brexit is the cause of Britain’s migrant crisis. During an interview on ITV, when asked whether he would have implemented the government’s Rwanda policy had the crisis occurred during his time as Prime Minister, Lord Cameron responded that the situation was different then, as they could return people directly to France.
He expressed his desire for such a situation to exist again, emphasizing its sensibility and effectiveness in deterring people smugglers.
Upon being questioned about why the government is not pursuing this strategy currently, he vaguely attributed it to the prevailing situation and attitudes. Lord Cameron’s implied blame of Brexit for the crisis has drawn criticism from Richard Tice, who dismissed his comments as “nonsense.”
Tice pointed out that under the Dublin convention, more illegal immigrants were being sent to the UK than were being returned to France. He argued that the convention is ineffective, as it does not work for France, which cannot send people back to countries like Italy, demonstrating that it makes no difference. Tice further criticized Lord Cameron for not taking action to return illegal migrants during his time as Prime Minister, instead choosing to pay France more and engage in empty talk.
According to figures from the Home Office and a House of Commons Library briefing, between 2015 and 2018, 2,365 people were transferred to Britain under the Dublin convention. However, the UK made 18,953 requests to transfer migrants to EU countries under the convention, with only 1,395 removals approved. This indicates that while the UK accepted 33% of requests to take in migrants under the Dublin Convention, fellow EU members accepted just 7% of outgoing requests. In contrast, Germany removed 17% of migrants, France removed 8%, and Greece removed 108%.
The number of migrants crossing the English Channel has also increased significantly since Mr. Cameron’s time in office. In 2018, only 299 people crossed in small boats, but that number surged to 45,755 in 2022, representing a 15,202% increase.
These figures suggest that Lord Cameron may have an overly optimistic view of the effectiveness of pre-Brexit systems.
Lord Cameron’s comments have raised concerns among some within the Conservative Party, who believe that his return to government was a poor decision by Rishi Sunak. Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has described Cameron as a symbol of “the politics of yesterday,” while Lord Frost has said that his appointment takes Britain “back to the past.” Tory peer and Boris Johnson supporter Peter Cruddas has expressed anger, stating that “the coup is complete, Remain has won, and democracy has lost.”
