Ed Davey Urges UK to Join EU Migration Pact as Small-Boat Arrivals Fall 43%

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 18

Sir Ed Davey said the UK should join the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact, arguing it would let Britain return Channel arrivals to the first EU country they entered.
The Liberal Democrat leader said that would undercut smuggling gangs, while his party put the cost at about £100 million a year versus £5 billion for the current asylum system.
More than 14,000 people have reached the UK by small boat so far this year, down 43% from a year earlier; Labour said wider cooperation with Europe had already helped prevent 47,000 crossings in two years.
Joining the pact would also require the UK to accept some screened asylum seekers from the EU, and any deal would need unanimous backing from all 27 member states plus new UK legislation.
The EU pact, in force since June, replaces the Dublin system with faster screening, biometric registration and a solidarity pool of about 30,000 asylum seekers shared across the bloc.