Royal Navy: Conservative MP suggests refugees should be shipped back to homelands on naval frigates

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The new Conservative deputy chairman has suggested that refugees should be shipped back to their homelands ‘on a Royal Navy frigate’.

Lee Anderson, who was given the post by prime minister Rishi Sunak during his recent reshuffle, accused refugee charities of ‘fuelling’ migrants’ desires to cross the English Channel, and suggested the Royal Navy should be deployed to send them back.

The navy recently passed Channel crossing patrol duties back to the Home Office after an eight-month stint.

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Portsmouth-based type 23 HMS Kent is one of the newest frigates in the Royal Navy's fleet. Picture: LPhot Dan RosenbaumPortsmouth-based type 23 HMS Kent is one of the newest frigates in the Royal Navy's fleet. Picture: LPhot Dan Rosenbaum
Portsmouth-based type 23 HMS Kent is one of the newest frigates in the Royal Navy's fleet. Picture: LPhot Dan Rosenbaum

The outspoken Ashfield MP told The Telegraph: ‘You’ve got the people smugglers, you’ve got the camps, the charities at the camps.

‘You’ve then got, when you get to England, the hotels, the lefty lawyers – it is one big multi-million pound industry.’

Mr Anderson claimed that on a recent trip to Calais with the commons home affairs select committee, he saw ‘hundreds of young men’ being helped by workers at the British Care4Calais charity. He believed the migrants were ‘encouraged’ to make the dangerous crossing.

He then suggested that migrants arriving unlawfully in Britain should be returned the ‘same day’ to where they came from.

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Deputy Conservative chairman Lee Anderson. Picture: Brian EyreDeputy Conservative chairman Lee Anderson. Picture: Brian Eyre
Deputy Conservative chairman Lee Anderson. Picture: Brian Eyre

‘I’d put them on a Royal Navy frigate or whatever and sail it to Calais,’ he said.

A former Labour councillor before joining the Tories, Mr Anderson has been no stranger to controversy.

He drew criticism earlier this month by calling for the return of the death penalty in an interview with The Spectator magazine a few days before his appointment.

Mr Sunak was forced to note that neither he, nor the government, shared this view.

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In response to Mr Anderson’s claims, Care4Calais said: ‘Our operations in northern France focus on the provision of humanitarian aid and we seek to provide some friendship and dignity through activities like English lessons, football matches, and simple teas and coffees.

We provide no assistance – or encouragement – to refugees with journeys to the UK. We do not want any individual to attempt to cross the Channel in a small boat, or by other dangerous means. We see the real life consequences of people smuggling; that is why we campaign for safe routes for people who want to seek asylum in the UK.’

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