Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper appeared on BBC Breakfast to issue a statement after an additional 1,075 migrants crossed the Channel on Wednesday.
BBC Breakfast viewers were left reeling after a statement made by Yvette Cooper regarding 1,075 migrants crossing the Channel on Wednesday. The morning show hosts asked Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper about the news as it was confirmed that 26 people had returned to France as the result of the “one in, one out” agreement.
But with an additional influx of migrants arriving earlier this week, Cooper reaffirmed on the show that it is a pilot and is still being tested.
She told the hosts: “This new agreement with France which we had discussions about here in Paris, it was a pilot, it’s still in its pilot phase. People who arrive in small boats are being returned to France where the boats set off from; that was something that was never possible under the previous government.”
Yvette Cooper issued a statement on migrants arriving on boats (Image: BBC)
Cooper added: “It’s still being tested, still procedures being put in place, but of course we still want that to increase and that to be at the heart of going after the criminal gangs.
“[They are] frankly making huge profits by putting people’s lives at risk, and frankly undermining our border security.”
But as she gave her statement on air, viewers weren’t quite happy enough with her response as one user wrote: “19 out, 19 in, and over 35,000 this year. Waste of time.”
Another wrote: “20 out of how many?” While a third fumed the comment was “absolutely useless”.
It was shared on the morning shows on Friday (October 10) that pictures showed 1,075 people arriving on Wednesday in small boats.
There were also photos on a beach near Calais of over 100 people getting in small boats and heading to the Channel. Figures then revealed how many migrants have arrived this year so far, which is coming in at 35,746; only just lagging behind last year which was 36,816 for the whole year.
The scheme was announced earlier this year, but it has been slammed by the public for not having the effect desired at this stage.
BBC Breakfast continues daily from 6am.
