Theresa May’s Tory government is sowing the seeds of chaos to leave the
EU in name only! Her Government said it was considering retiring two military
landing ships; BAE Systems announced it was laying off thousands of workers in
vital defence manufacturing roles, and a former Border Force chief claimed the
service could be thrown into chaos without considerable
recruitment.
It looks very much to me like this disastrous Tory government is
purposely running down the UK’s ability to defend itself by undermining defence
manufacturing, reducing military capability, and slashing armed forces
personnel. These cuts, mixed with a Chancellor who is unwilling to prepare for a
“no-deal “scenario, and the utter chaos the Tories have created in UK Border
Force, spell a recipe for disaster.
In my opinion, Theresa May is using smoke and mirrors to deflect from the
fact that she intends to leave the EU in name only. While she talks tough on
leaving the EU, everything her government does signals the
opposite.
You only have to look at Mrs May’s deeply flawed Great Repeal Bill and
her ridiculous speech in Florence to see that she is nothing more than an EU
appeaser! And as Mrs May’s premiership lurches from one disaster to another, we
can now see a pattern emerging of cuts that further weakens the UK’s vital
industries and services, which, in turn, could undermine our ability to defend
our interests and borders post-Brexit.
It was obvious two years ago when I was in the Calais Jungle that Border
Force was so cash-starved, it was no longer able to cope; and if anything, the
situation has deteriorated since then. As for the continuing deep cuts to our
military capability, I believe that this is nothing more than an attempt to
weaken our armed forces to the point where we have no other choice than to join
the quickly developing EU army.
The simple fact is, if the UK is to make a success of whatever form of
Brexit we eventually achieve, we must have the ability to defend our borders;
manufacture defence equipment, and have a strong, independent armed forces.
Without these capabilities, I’m afraid we will be forever more subservient to
the EU.
Even worse is her Government’s decision to use the “scant resources” of
Border Force to police EU environmental law on a Kent sandbank. The priority of
Border Force on the South-East Coast should be protecting Britain from illegal
migration and criminal activity; not persecuting fishermen for potential
breaches of EU environmental law!
The revelations that Border Force will be used to ‘ensure full
compliance’ with the 1992 EU ‘Habitats Directive’ on a small sandbank near
Margate came to light in a recent document published by the fishing enforcement
agency, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).
The MMO document says that the estimated annual enforcement costs to
protect the sandbank range from £17,375 – £18,375. However, under the heading,
“Other key non-monetised costs” the document states:
“The MMO proposes to use other enforcement bodies such as UK Border Agency and the police to fully utilise their resources for surveillance and enforcement. These costs cannot be monetised at present as they are requested on an ad hoc basis, and costs can vary.”
I think the MMO’s decision to heap further pressure on Border Forces in
an area already under great pressure from the ongoing European migrant crisis is
a flagrant waste of scant resources.
The UK Border Agency has recently seen budget cuts totalling £100
million. However, it would seem Government mandarins feel it is more important
to uphold EU legislation than protect our coastline from illegal immigration and
criminal activity.
This move by the MMO to use Border Force as its police force seems to
follow a worrying pattern. From speaking to members of fishing communities up
and down the country, it seems that Border Agency vessels are being used more
and more to police the fishing industry, with boardings to check catches
becoming a regular occurrence.
Having spent five weeks examining the migrant crisis in Northern France,
I understand the threat this country currently faces from illegal migration.
Border Force does not need the distraction of having to police fisheries and
enforce barmy EU rules.
My
outrage at the MMO’s move to use Border Force assets to police UK fisheries was
echoed by Essex fishing skipper, Ray Lovett, who often operates in the Margate
area. Mr Lovett, a
fisherman with many years’ experience and the owner/skipper of the Anna Louise,
HH56, based in Harwich, Essex, said:
“as a full-time fisherman with many years’ experience, I have been subjected to this wasteful use of our protection services before. I do not understand how priority can be given to harassing law-abiding inshore fishermen with Border Agency craft; while at the same time illegal immigrants are being boated ashore on the beaches of South East England. What if these were terrorists?”
The public must be made aware that our political masters – people who are
supposed to serve us, the Great British public – put more emphasis on trying to
catch out fishermen than they do to protect our shores from criminal activity
and illegal immigration.
This madness must be highlighted and stopped! Mike
Hookem MEP.
