Responsibility for Channel deaths is solely with the criminal gangs who treat migrants like disposable trash
BLUNT-SPOKEN ex-miner Lee Anderson is one of those rare politicians still brave enough to tell it like it is.
The Red Wall Tory says he spoke for millions last week, urging asylum cheats who whinge about life aboard the migrant barge Bibby Stockholm to “f*** off back to France”.
And he insisted the European Convention on Human Rights, designed by Britain as a humanitarian solution for genuine refugees and hijacked by the Left, is no longer fit for purpose.
Critics will now pounce on his tough words in the wake of Saturday’s tragic loss of life in the English Channel.
But the two incidents are totally separate. Saturday’s mid-Channel disaster is exactly the sort of avoidable risk every single migrant takes crossing the world’s busiest sea lane.
It is what drives the war against evil people-smugglers.
Enraged Corbynite MP Diane Abbott twisted Anderson’s words to claim 41 migrants who drowned off Italy last month “had indeed f***ed off . . . to the bottom of the sea”.
She quickly withdrew the slur.
The latest Channel deaths — the worst incident since 27 migrants died when a dinghy sank in November 2021 — has dramatically upped the stakes in this hideous blame game.
First and foremost the responsibility lies solely with the criminal gangs who wantonly treat people like disposable trash.
Those who drowned were among 66 passengers who paid up to £3,000 for a cramped seat on an overcrowded craft and no life jacket.
It is claimed they were being tracked by two French navy boats.
Without such “protection”, even people-smugglers might have thought twice about pushing boats into those wind-lashed waves.
Once close to halfway, French skippers could call on UK lifeboats to take over. The risk is terrifying.
Yet Britain has agreed to give France £500million to stop such overloaded inflatables leaving the shores of Sangatte in the first place.
In return, armed gendarmes are supposed to patrol the dunes and forests, intercepting the dinghies before they can set off.
Instead we see pictures of uniformed French cops, batons in hand, standing idly by as passengers drag their craft into the sea, like migrating turtles, usually at night.
Last week, the gangs decided not to wait for darkness and launched a crammed inflatable in front of French sunbathers basking in broad daylight.
Far from stemming this human tide, the number crossing the world’s busiest shipping lane under French noses has reached record levels.
Patrols seem more intent on facilitating the smoothest possible transfer to English soil.
So far this year, 16,000 have made the crossing — a total of 100,000 since 2018.
France has huge problems of its own with illegal immigration.
Even where serious attempts are made to stop the trafficking, authorities are consistently outwitted by Kurdish and Albanian crime gangs.
People-smugglers use encrypted TikTok and WhatsApp to keep one step ahead of leaden-footed law enforcers.
Lee Anderson, the ex-Labour councillor turned Tory party deputy chairman, refuses to apologise for his four-letter outburst over the Bibby Stockholm floating hotel.
“It’s not just me that’s being furious, it’s my constituents and millions of people up and down the country,” he says.
He renewed his call for Britain to quit the meddlesome European Convention on Human Rights.
“I’ve always been an advocate of leaving,” he said. “If things don’t work, if things don’t go to plan, then we’ve got to take drastic measures and I would fully support the Government in doing that.”
Acid test
The Convention, backed by wartime leader Winston Churchill, was set up in 1953 to help the millions displaced by conflict and those, like the Jews, facing persecution.
It has since effectively merged with the European Union, overruling sovereign decisions on such issues as immigration, which should now be the sole responsibility of our elected MPs.
Immigration is now the key dividing line between Labour and the Tories in the next election.
The acid test will come this year if the Supreme Court backs Rishi Sunak’s plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda.
Migrant lobbies will instantly appeal to the ECHR.
Rishi should follow Lee Anderson’s example — and tell them where to go.
I’M not a big fan of rail union wrecker Mick Lynch, but he was spot on with his analysis last week of Labour leader Keir Starmer and his Shadow Chancellor, Rachel “The Robot” Reeves.
“Sir Shifty” has no soul and very little brain, says the RMT leader. “They don’t think he’s an intellectual heavyweight, they don’t think he’s got a soul,” he told LBC’s Iain Dale.
“With Rachel Reeves it’s even worse because it’s robotic. I’m not having a go because of their personality but they’ve got to find a way of moving people’s hearts a bit. They’re just not doing it at the minute.”
Just wait ’til the voters find out!