𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Dozens of migrants are set to be brought into a south coast port after another day of chaos in the Channel. A dinghy had been at sea for around 31 hours before it was intercepted by two RNLI lifeboats.

Riot police were spotted arriving in Gosport, Hampshire, amid growing suspicions officials were preparing to bring the asylum seekers to shore there.

But the mayhem continued after the RNLI rescue vessels pulled up alongside HMC Vigilant – a cutter – and the migrants were transferred to the much larger vessel.

The migrant dinghy had been at sea for more than 30 hours after leaving a beach close to the village of Vierville-sur-Mer, west of Bayeux.

Reform’s Cllr George Madgwick, the leader of Hampshire County Council, said: “Honestly before this boat lands tonight you need to understand the dynamics here.

“Someone at the Home Office for some bizarre reason chose Gosport as the place to allow an illegal boat to dock.

“After the utter logistical failure in Portsmouth they’ve determined Gosport, with one road on and off, and a proud naval area with huge levels of social housing – is the smart place to land them.

“Gosport is an area where many will come out their houses and many will be very unhappy. I pray this is peaceful tonight but I have to really wonder why this decision was made.

“They honestly couldn’t have picked a worse place if they wished the arrival to run smoothly and peacefully.

“Why didn’t they pick a quaint fishing village in a more liberal area where the residents won’t come out in force? I hope it isn’t.

“But this could be a disaster. It’s almost like they want it to be.”

And the Tory Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire, Donna Jones, urged Border Force to collect the migrants and take them to Dover to avoid violent protests.

She said: “Hampshire is not prepared or set-up to process people travelling into Britain this way, and the burden on the police to deal with the arrival and potential protest activity is unsustainable.

“Following the events of September 6 when a migrant boat was brought ashore to Portsmouth, I wrote to the Home Secretary to request immediate action to stop Hampshire becoming an established landing site.

“I am deeply concerned the government has not been in contact with me about its plans to land crossings in Hampshire, whilst expecting me to pay for the policing response on behalf of the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

“This is no way to run an operation like this.

“The event on September 6 sparked multiple large scale protests, and caused a great deal of concern across local communities. It drained valuable police resources with hundreds of police officers drafted in to keep the community safe.

“Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary cannot repeatedly divert its resources to manage landings the county was never designed to receive.”

Four French lifeboats and the tugboat Abeille Liberté (Liberty Bee), along with a French Navy search-and-rescue helicopter, were scrambled when the 12m (40ft) craft left Port-en-Bessin, north of Bayeux, just before 10am on Monday. And it comes after one of the longest small boat journeys on record.

A source said: “The boat was in a very bad way, and very low in the water, with just a single small outboard motor to power it.

“The sea was calm, and weather conditions were good, but the decision was taken to escort the boat, without intervening.”

The source said the focus was on ensuring maritime safety, and not on preventing the boat reaching the UK.

Because of currents and winds, the boat first began heading along the French coast, rather than out to sea, he added.

“Gendarmes were also involved in monitoring the boat from the shoreline, and – at around 3pm – there was a movement towards English waters,” said the source.

By first light on Tuesday morning, there were no more reports about the location of the boat, but it was believed to still be at sea.

The latest mayhem has exposed the folly of the France deal, critics declared.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood agreed to give Paris £500 million for an increase in police patrols, a new vessel to intercept migrant taxi boats, two helicopters, drones and a camera surveillance system.

And the Home Office will give the French another £160m to test new tactics to stop Channel migrant crossings. One of the proposals being tested is paying France to deport migrants on their coastline.

Critics blasted the latest handouts as the three-year package will take the total given to Emmanuel Macron’s Government to more than £1.3 billion.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This latest fiasco shows that the French are not even trying to stop the illegal immigrants’ boats in French waters – instead they are escorting them here.

“Our border security has descended into chaos with migrants crossing at will over ever larger distances and in ever larger boats.

“The Labour’s government’s claim to smash the gangs is laughable and their deal with the French is clearly not working.

“The Conservatives have a plan to end all accommodation and benefits for illegal immigrants and instead deport them on arrival. Then these farcical crossings would soon stop.”

Labour were accused of being “weak” on immigration as 120 people were brought into Portsmouth following a record crossing attempt from near Cherbourg.

It prompted warnings of an “invasion” of other coastal towns, such as Brighton, Southampton or Weymouth as smugglers change their tactics to exploit weak points in the border.

And hundreds of protesters descended on Portsmouth, vowing not to let three coaches of migrants through.

Some even chased the buses down the motorway as they carried the migrants from Portsmouth to Dover.

Rescue teams admitted they were blindsided as the smugglers used an “isolated, rocky spot” in the region, which is almost 285 miles away by road from Calais.

And the boat was in “serious difficulty” within “an hour”, officials said.

This led to five French rescue vessels and two helicopters helping the 120 asylum seekers on the nearly 70-mile journey.

A rescue source said: “Jobourg is not patrolled by police, because nobody would expect a boat to leave from such an isolated, rocky spot.

“Within an hour or so the boat was in serious difficulty, and passengers on board made Mayday calls on their mobile phones.”

The engine had failed, investigators believe, meaning the dinghy was drifting dangerously about 14 miles off the coast.

A French Navy H-160 helicopter and a Dragon 50 civil security chopper joined the huge operation, which also included the five French ships.

The Abeille Liberté got closest to the stricken boat, and found “all on board packed closely together, and clearly in some distress”.

The source added: “We asked them who wanted to be rescued, and the answer was no one.

“There were 20 women and eight children among them, and they clearly caused the most concern.

“Only a few migrants were wearing life jackets, so we handed out jackets to all of them. It seemed incomprehensible that they were risking their lives without life jackets.

“A second outboard motor was made to work, so the boat could continue on its voyage to Britain.”