Top civil servant visits Dover ahead of expected SURGE in migrant Channel crossings

Simon Case is seen meeting personnel in Dover as he visits the harbour.
Simon Case is seen meeting personnel in Dover as he visits the harbour.
Image: GB News
Mark White

By Mark White


Published: 18/11/2022

- 12:47

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 10:30

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case was filmed disembarking from the Border Force vessel Hurricane at Dover late on Friday morning

The country's most senior civil servant has paid a visit to Border Force facilities at Dover harbour, GB News can reveal.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case was filmed disembarking from the Border Force vessel Hurricane at Dover late on Friday morning.


There has been no official confirmation of the visit by Mr Case, as the Government prioritises tackling the Channel migrant crisis.

But a source said they understood it was a private visit, where the head of the Civil Service would have been able to gauge the efforts underway by Border Force and military personnel to deal with the surge in people crossing the Channel in small boats.

Simon Case visited amid fears of an impending spate of migrant Channel crossings.
Simon Case visited amid fears of an impending spate of migrant Channel crossings.
Gareth Fuller

Mr Case was filmed meeting personnel on the quayside at Dover, close to the migrant processing centre which was the target of a firebomb attack at the end of last month.

The Cabinet Secretary was able to meet the civil servants on the front line of a crisis which has seen more than 42,000 people cross in small boats since the beginning of January.

The numbers arriving so far this year are way ahead of the 28,526 who arrived in small boats throughout the whole of last year.

Earlier this week, Home Secretary Suella Braverman signed a controversial new deal to provide French authorities with an additional£63 million to help bolster border security in north west France.

The deal will fund a 40 percent increase in the number of French police officers patrolling beaches around Dunkirk and Calais.

The package will also introduce more drones and other technology and will allow some UK personnel to act as liaison officers in French maritime security control rooms.

Bad weather in the Channel has prevented small boats from crossing since last weekend, when more than 2,000 people made the illegal journey during a three-day weather window.

Conditions in the Channel will improve later on Friday, paving way for another expected surge in small boats on Saturday.

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