Britain’s Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp faced a threatening encounter while visiting a migrant camp just outside Dunkirk, near Calais. He was speaking with residents of the camp when a “curved machete” was pulled out.
Philp said the weapon was brandished while he was talking to migrants, prompting him and his team to leave quickly. As they were leaving, they were pelted with glass bottles, and more bottles were thrown at their car as they drove away — a “very unsettling encounter,” he said.
The camp mainly houses Eritrean and Afghan nationals. Philp claimed that when he told one man wearing a lifejacket that crossing the Channel was illegal, the individual replied: “I don’t care.” He said migrants could easily claim asylum in France but were instead choosing to cross illegally, adding that some mentioned UK hotels and said “it’s easy to work in the UK,” which he linked to the Deliveroo scandal.
Philp said he saw no French police in the camp, relied on his own security, and ensured everyone left safely. He stressed the visit was to understand why people would leave a safe country like France to enter the UK illegally, linking it to recent estimates that 50,000 people have crossed since Labour took office.
