Farage And The Tories Accused Of 'Causing Small Boat Crisis' By Championing Brexit

Nigel Farage and Ed DaveyEd Davey has declared Nigel Farage and the Tories are to blame for the small boats crisis because they were the “champions of Brexit”.Speaking to LBC, the Liberal Democrats leader said the Reform UK leader and the opposition – who have been calling for a firmer crackdown on asylum seekers coming across the English Channel – were actually behind the rising numbers coming to British shores.He said: “It’s really important to push back against people like Nigel Farage and the Conservatives.“Prior to Brexit, we had an agreement with 27 European countries under what was called the Dublin Convention, and that acted as a real deterrent.“Now that we’re out of there, it’s acting as a magnet because the asylum seekers going to one European country know they can’t go to another European country because they would be returned under European law, but they’re not able to be returned by the UK.“Brexit, not only prevented us returning people legally and fairly, as we used to be able to do, it’s not only got rid of that deterrent which Rwanda was supposed to be all about, it’s actually attracting more people.”He added: “I would argue very strongly that the Conservatives and Nigel Farage caused the small boats crisis themselves, and it’s about time we held them to account for that.”Immigration has dominated the headlines in recent weeks amid a rise in protests against the use of asylum hotels.As of October 21, 36,734 people have arrived in the UK via small boat in 2025.That’s 8,530 more than on the same date last year, but 869 lower than the same point in 2022 which was the highest year on record (45,000 people cross in just 12 months).The UK did return more people than it received in the years before the Brexit vote, albeit in small numbers.After the 2016 referendum, small boat arrivals started to outpace removals.Now the UK is outside of the EU, the only mechanism it has to return migrants is the new “one in, one out” scheme with France.Davey’s remarks also come after Keir Starmer tried a similar tactic earlier this month by calling them “Farage boats”.He said: “I would gently point out to Nigel Farage and others that before we left the EU, we had a returns agreement with every country in the EU and he told the country it would make no difference if we left.“He was wrong about that. These are Farage boats, in many senses, that are coming across the channel.”At the time, Reform UK accused Starmer of “spreading complete misinformation”. Labour has previously been very careful to avoid criticising Brexit, but Reform UK’s surge in the polls seem to have triggered a change in strategy.‘Nigel Farage and the Tories caused the small boats crisis.’Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says ‘the champions of Brexit’ have to answer for record channel crossings. pic.twitter.com/8bd0xS2qci— LBC (@LBC) October 28, 2025Related...Brexit Will Damage The UK Economy 'For The Foreseeable Future', Says Bank Of England ChiefRachel Reeves Blames Brexit As She Prepares To Raise Taxes And Cut SpendingMigration Expert Reveals How Brexit Has Made The Small Boats Crisis Worse

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