𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Migrants will start “to land across the south of England in even greater numbers”, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been warned. Fury erupted after 140 asylum seekers were taken into Portsmouth after being intercepted on a mega-dinghy by two lifeboat vessels.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police after blocking the road to prevent the coaches carrying the Channel arrivals from a processing centre in Kent. But many now fear the UK is entering a new phase of the small boats crisis, with people smugglers launching boats from further afield.

The dinghy detected near Portsmouth left the Cherbourg area in Normandy and had been shadowed for roughly 10 hours, it is believed.

Reform’s Lee Anderson said: “There is no wonder British people are taking to the streets to vent their anger at the ongoing invasion by undocumented fighting-aged males who have no right to be in this country.

“I have spoken up every week since this invasion started during the last Parliament. What we have seen over the past 24 hours is the next stage of the illegal invasion.

“Migrants will now start to land across the south of England in even greater numbers.

“I fully support the British people who turn up in huge numbers to peacefully protest, just as the Pink Ladies have done over the migrant hotels.

“But Reforms policy is to ban burkas, balaclavas and all face coverings being worn in public, and we condemn attacks on our police.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The last 24 hours have seen multiple violations of the UK border by mega dinghies full of illegal immigrants, which the French authorities have allowed to depart.

“Andy Burnham and Shabana Mahmood have been boasting about French action, but hundreds of illegal immigrants arriving in just a few hours shows this is not working.

“Their weak approach is leaving our border wide open, with almost 20,000 illegal immigrants crossing so far this year.

“Only rough seas have prevented even more crossings. It’s time to implement the Conservative plan – leave the ECHR and then illegal immigrants can be deported within a week of arrival. That’s the only thing which will stop this.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Downing Street last week, insisting the plan is “clearly working”, despite smugglers planning to launch more mega dinghies.

But London and Paris faced ridicule as the new “surge team” of 45 officers will not be allowed to enter the water.

They will be deployed to cover areas like Le Touquet, Berck, Le Treport and Dieppe – and possibly even further West.

The officers, a mix of gendarmes and Police Nationale reservists, will be in addition to the 1,050 already deployed to patrol beaches further north.

People smugglers shifted some of their launch sites West after French police intensified patrols around Calais and Dunkirk. Criminal gangs have forced migrants to spend as long as 18 hours on inflatable dinghies after launching from Dieppe, in Normandy, and making numerous pick-ups from different beaches.

The Daily Express is aware of one dinghy – carrying 173 people – that sank off the coast of Boulogne after launching from Dieppe. And a dinghy carrying a staggering 230 people smashed all records on the biggest boats detected in the Channel.

But the reinforcements will be deployed to stop smugglers from launching dinghies.

And they won’t be able to act once the boats enter the water unless the commander gives a specific order to save lives.