Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said that when an inquiry into coronavirus is held, “we will see that we allowed ourselves to import this disease and the British government did nothing”.
In recent weeks, Mr Farage has criticised the Conservative government for failing to both stop travellers from legally entering the UK during the coronavirus pandemic whilst Britons are forced into lockdown in their own homes, as well as for failing to stop illegal migration across the English Channel.
On Wednesday, the Brexiteer had aired a report from Pett Level in East Sussex where he revealed that illegal aliens coming from migrant camps known for outbreaks of coronavirus are landing under cover of darkness, disappearing to likely move through the UK’s criminal networks without being either detained by Border Force or screened for the infectious Chinese virus.
Speaking to talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer on Thursday, Mr Farage said that he had also been tipped off some migrants being picked up by officials in Dover, Kent, were showing clear signs of coronavirus.
“I was amazed at the number of the members of the public who got in touch with me from up and down the south coast saying it was worse than anyone thinks and authorities don’t seem to care,” Mr Farage said.
Mr Farage, who has criticised the media for failing to cover the growing number of Middle Eastern illegals travelling from the coast of France, added: “There appears to be almost wall-to-wall media silence on this.”
On the fact that the government keeps announcing ‘fresh crackdowns’ that never seem to stop illegal migration, Mr Farage said: “There’s only one way to deal with it. Tony Abbott, the [former] Australian prime minister, dealt with it back in [2013] when large numbers were coming to Australia by boat…
“Abbott made it clear: anyone that comes to Australia illegally by boat will not be given refugee status and not be allowed to stay. And that stopped the boats from coming.”
Seven years ago, Australia introduced Operation Sovereign Borders which saw people trafficker boats intercepted at sea and turned back or taken to off-shore asylum processing centres, drastically reducing the numbers of illegal aliens arriving by water.
Under current international guidelines, would-be refugees must seek asylum in the first safe country they enter; however, the migrants arriving on England’s southern shores — who mostly originate from the Middle East — had travelled directly from France, a relatively safe country.
Reports in the British media last year revealed people traffickers admitting that French police are aiding illegals by advising them on when to make the journey without being stopped by border agents.
On the open secret that French officials are failing in their agreement with the British to prevent illegals leaving their shores, Mr Farage said: “I’m afraid at the moment we are allowing the French authorities to walk all over us. We look weak; we look pathetic.”
“It’s almost as if there is a big sign hung on the White Cliffs of Dover saying: ‘Illegal immigration is worth it. Pay the gangmaster €5,000. Provided you get across the 12-mile line in the middle of the Channel, you will be allowed to stay.’
“There is a very, very strong incentive for people to pay these criminal gangs because virtually everybody gets to stay,” Mr Farage said.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed in January that only 15 per cent of illegal boat migrants who landed on Britain’s shores were actually returned to their first safe country of entry in mainland Europe.
Mr Farage also criticised the large number of people legally travelling to the UK, with reports that 115,000 people a day are landing in Britain’s airports without being tested for coronavirus. Meanwhile, more than 9,000 Englishmen and Welshmen have been fined for allegedly breaching lockdown measures.
While the government has drawn up plans for a fortnight’s self-isolation for all new arrivals, the policies have not been enacted and would just entail ‘stay-at-home’ orders rather than forced quarantine in a facility. Not only would the system be open to abuse, but between the traveller landing and arriving at his residence, he would have encountered and potentially infected dozens of people.
“Huge numbers of people [are] coming into our airports from all over the world without a single piece of testing, of quarantining,” Mr Farage said.
“I’m quite certain that when we have an inquiry into this, in months or years to come, we will see that we allowed ourselves to import this disease and the British government did nothing,” he added.