Would EU membership have reduced UK spending on Channel crossings?

[cassie2and2]

After recent anouncement on Britain paying France more money to curb channel crossings of illegal imigrants decided to look up what illegal immigration costs are to Britain per year compared to how much it costs France for illegal immigrants (it seems what Britain pays France to suposedly stop the channel crossings covers most of Frances outlay for their immigrants) then looked up cost to Britain of being a member of the EU in the past.... If we had stayed in the EU would we have had to pay France these enormouse sums to control their borders?

Of course we would. The agreement that France and Britain have re small boat crossings is separate to any EU membership.

I think it’s mad what we pay the French, let’s face it they just want the migrants gone and think the UK is too much of a draw. I don’t think if we’d been still in we would have paid less because unless we become tougher it’s not going to change. Although we would have been at the table and been part of overall management as all countries in the EU face this problem.

Yes. Google Dublin agreement.

It’s as a direct result of Brexit that the UK has the “small boats” issue.

Which means that anyone who fell for the lies of Farage et al during the 2016 remain / leave campaign and who voted for this bunch of shysters campaigning to leave has - ironically! - contributed to the “small boats” issue.

But very few people seem to know or understand this 🤦🏻‍♀️

This! Brexit has caused more problems, red tape and costs. It was all a smoke screen!

Would be no different at all. The French are taking UK money and doing fuck all, as they clearly want them gone. Also some EU countries refuse to take their 'share' of illegal migrants/asylum seekers, so it's not as if ' all in it together so let's share the burden' for EU members.

Yep! The Dublin agreement 🫤

I dont think the 'small boats' issue was an actual issue until after Brexit.

Not because the French want them gone, but because leaving the EU meant that all agreements in place were null and void due to the UK no longer being part of the EU.

An own goal for Brexiteers!

No

I blame Brexit for a lot of things, but this isn't one of them

We made very little use of the Dublin agreement. But I'm not really sure how much we could've used it. Men choose to come here for a number of reasons.

So before, they were still choosing to come here and the fact that they were supposed to seek asylum in the first safe country didn't stop us being the popular choice. They weren't stopping in the first safe country. They were on a mission to come here and they still are.

The main problem I can see doesn't really get mentioned - which is that before Brexit, in theory if your asylum claim was turned down, you couldn't reapply to an EU country

We're obviously not an EU country anymore so people can be rejected by Germany and then apply here for example.

But I'm not sure how much that's happening because we're so likely to get targeted in the first place. I hope that makes sense

There does seem to be a more generous offer here than anywhere else, especially with recent clampdowns by other countries

Is Schengen still suspended? It is a problem in all European countries - or at least the ones who tolerate it/Encourage it. I think suspension of Schengen tells you a lot about that.

Historically, we've always paid France a stupid amount of money because of the geography and the crossings. ISTR a long time ago, more than 20 years, then French president said something about it being our fault because our benefit system was too generous. At the time I thought that was a bit mad and I thought why should we change our own systems because of this?

But I don't know when other things came in about all the free healthcare for example. I can't even get an NHS dentist and those arriving here can get free dentistry up to a level that I wouldn't get anyway. So for example, I think if I had a bridge on the NHS, I'd still have to pay a few hundred quid but they don't. I currently have a temporary denture in. That cost me an absolute fortune. That's not a criticism of the people who make it - but I do not understand why that would be free of charge to someone who just got here.

Sorry, I digress. No, can't pin this one on Brexit. Quite a few governments need to pull their fingers out and actually make an effort. Why they don't do that is anyone's guess....