Ben Habib has called on the Government to act on the growing migrant crisis, as new figures show 5,369 more people made the journey in August in 102 small boats - the highest figure yet.
The Reform UK Adviser joined Refugee and Asylum Rights Director at Amnesty International UK, Steve Valdez-Symonds, on Britain’s Newsroom to debate if migrants making the crossing to Britain should be prioritised over UK university students, amid plans to house them in their accommodation.
Habib said: “This is the big thing for the United Kingdom, I think leading aside the social implications of unbridled illegal migration, the big thing was that it cost us £4billion to look after about 80,000 people. And of course, that bill is rising.
“It's rising quite fast and unless we get a grip of the problem, we're not going to find any way out of this, either economically or from a social fabric perspective, anytime soon. And the only way to get rid of the problem, the only way to stop it, to stop the problem from getting bigger, is to stop the boats in the Channel and turn them round.
“Yes, we've got to deal with those that have already made it to our shores. But unless we want to be completely overrun, our hotels taken over, our student accommodation taken over, we've got to get the political courage and will required to enforce our international rights under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Stop the boats as they seek to illegally enter our territorial waters and turn them round. That is the only solution.”
Watch the debate in full above.
Tune in to Britain’s Newsroom, Monday to Friday from 9:30am, only on GB News.
