Nigel Farage says migrant crossings needs to be rebranded as a national security crisis if the country is to tackle the problem.
And he said proposals to crack down on criminal gangs were unlikely to be successful when the financial incentives for traffickers was so high.
Speaking to GB News Nigel Farage said:
“It was a weekend of light southerly winds in the English Channel and that meant the crossings were back on.
“There’s a large group of very boastful young men all without documents coming into the United Kingdom.
“But we have to be fair; the French do actually try and stop the boats.
“So they do stop some, but the problem is the people that were in that dinghy will be back the next calm day in another dinghy and make the attempt yet again.
“So over a thousand young men have already crossed the English Channel so far this year. And given we've only had four days this year when it's been possible to cross you can see there is no sign of this stopping.
“I personally believe we need to rethink the English Channel crisis. I think we need to rebrand it as a national security crisis. Tens of thousands of young men are coming into our country, often from places that are not even friends of ours, often from war torn areas and without documentation.
“We have no idea whether some of them were even fighting for ISIS in Syria.
“I think this is a question of national security and that is the right approach.
“But none of that would impress the Archbishop of Canterbury who raises one or two really rather important questions.
“He talks about unity. I tell you what, Archbishop, if there was a referendum on this, there would be real unity because a very large majority would say that those crossing illegally shouldn't be allowed to stay. They shouldn't be coming via this route.
“He says we can do better and yet I don’t hear from him for any alternative, whatsoever.
“In fact, when I hear the Labour Party and others say ‘we can do better than this’, all they ever talk about is cracking down on the criminal gangs in northern France.
“But the problem is, these people, in a calm week in the summer, can make between €2 -€3 million per gang and it seems to me, however tough you crack down when there are financial incentives as big as that, they will continue to traffic people across the English Channel.
“I don't honestly think we will do better unless we redefine this as a national security crisis.”
