You are clearly a moron, Farage tells Cleverly
James Cleverly was called a “moron” by Nigel Farage on Thursday after hailing Border Force for the first Christmas in five years when no migrants made a Channel crossing.
The Home Secretary highlighted the figure in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday night – but critics said the bad weather driven by Storm Gerrit had put a halt to crossings.
The south coast has been battered by high winds in recent days, and Mr Farage, the former Ukip and Brexit Party leader, wrote on X: “You may be called Cleverly but you are clearly a moron. I am close to Dover now, the wind has been gusting 50mph. That is why there are no migrant crossings.”
No small boat crossings took place on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day this year, according to Home Office figures – the first time this has happened since 2018. There were bursts of rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day before a more settled Boxing Day. Thursday was the 12th consecutive day without any arrivals being recorded.
DFDS, the ferry operator, said there were delays to cross-Channel services because of high winds out at sea.
The most recent migrant crossing, on Dec 16, saw one boat, carrying 55 people, make the journey to the UK from France.
Mr Cleverly tweeted: “There were no small boat arrivals over Christmas for the first time since they started in 2018. Last night, our Border Force officers and their French partners worked together to stop a boat launching on the beaches. They’ve played a crucial role in cutting crossings by 35 per cent.”
Users of X activated a feature on the platform that allows them to add “helpful and informative” context. The community feature was introduced last year to allow users to challenge misinformation.
A line underneath Mr Cleverly’s post read: “James’s post is misleading. Even the Government’s own website confirms there are seasonal effects on boat crossings due to adverse weather. This winter is unusually stormy!”
Last year, 90 arrivals were recorded on Christmas Day, with none on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day. It was a similar pattern in 2021, with 67 arrivals on Dec 25 but none on Dec 24 or 26.
Stephen Kinnock MP, Labour’s shadow immigration minister, said: “Like the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary is fast becoming a figure of ridicule, this time trying to take credit for stormy winter weather.
“2023 has been the second worst year on record for dangerous Channel crossings, and the cost of emergency hotel use for asylum seekers stands at £8 million a day. He needs to stop boasting and start delivering on his pledge to stop the dangerous boat crossings.”
Last year, 45,774 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats, up from 28,500 in the previous year. There have been just under 30,000 so far this year.
That has been attributed largely to a 90 per cent fall in the number of Albanians following a returns agreement enabling fast-track deportation of Channel migrants from the country back to it.
Increased patrols by France on the beaches following a £480 million deal between Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, are also said to have played a part in helping reduce crossings.
