'We just tell them "Don't do it, it's dangerous"': French police reveal limits of Channel crackdown as '1,000 arrive'
More than 700 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats, making it one of the biggest days of arrivals so far this year.
French police have claimed they have been ordered not to stop migrants getting into boats bound for Britain.
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After confronting officers on Hardelot beach, south of Boulogne, shadow home secretary Chris Philp was told that they had been told to let the migrants go.
While being filmed by his support team, Mr Philp was told by a French officer: “Our order is to let them go. We just have to say to them, ‘Don’t do that. It’s dangerous’.”
Mr Philp then asked: “So your orders are not to intervene,” to which the police officers replied: “We have to protect them.”
Read More: LBC callers react to Chris Philp's small boat 'stunt'
While Mr Philp was having the conversation, several dozen migrants could be seen climbing into a dinghy in waist-high water.
It came on the day which saw more than 700 migrants cross the Channel in small boats - one of the biggest days of arrivals so far this year.
France rarely intervened in Channel crossing in shallow water due to claims that it will risk migrant lives.
They have however sometimes deemed it necessary to slash dinghies with knives.
The Home Office wrote on X: “We are aware of posts circulating online that claim French law enforcement are failing to prevent small boat Channel crossings. UK-French cooperation has already stopped over 46,000 attempted crossings since the election.”
The latest day of large numbers crossing comes after new Prime Minister Andy Burnham hailed home secretary Shabana Mahmood's attempts to clamp down.
He said on Wednesday: “The Home Secretary has brought forward a very vigorous plan in relation to this. And let’s remember of course the numbers can fluctuate.
"But overall boat crossings are down, down quite significantly year-on-year, so that does suggest that the plan is working.
"It’s about getting a grip on the entire situation, I raised this repeatedly through the Makerfield by-election. The public want to see control being exerted and while we’ve made progress there is more to do. And I recognise that completely."
However, Mr Philp said: “Shabana Mahmood has paid half a billion pounds of our money unconditionally, yet I saw gendarmes doing nothing today and they told me they had orders to take no physical action but just talk to the migrants.
“The only thing protecting our borders has been the rough weather in the Channel this year.
“Andy Burnham just said there was no problem. I saw with my own eyes today how out of touch he is.
“We need a proper plan to end these crossings – leave the ECHR which would enable us to deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. Then they wouldn’t bother attempting the crossing.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “This Government is bearing down on small boat crossings, with removals of small boat migrants at record levels and asylum claims down by 12 per cent.
“The Home Secretary has signed a landmark new deal with France to boost enforcement action on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars. This builds on joint work that has stopped over 44,000 attempted crossings since the election.
“We have removed or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally, an increase of 41 per cent, and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country.”