The UK response has been slammed after a motorcade was seen departing Gosport that would give the British soverign a run for his money.
Police vehicles at the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent (Image: PA)
A massive motorcade has been seen leaving Gosport in Hampshire tonight (September 22), with a string of vehicles heralded by blue flashing lights seen making its way along the motorway.
The fleet consisted of a number of police vehicles, ambulances, and several empty buses which had left passengerless after a migrant boat appeared to be headed for the seaside hamlet of Gosport.
According to the French coastguard, around 60 migrants on a small boat spent more than 33 hours at sea “in precarious conditions” and refused help as they were “determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom”.
They were intercepted by the RNLI, as per one MP, and were instead transported “to Dover by water”, meaning that the massive coaches already dispatched to the Hampshire seaside were no longer needed.
It has since been confirmed that the 60 or so migrants who refused help from the French coastguard, who then spent more than 30 hours at sea, have arrived in Dover.
British rescue boats were sent to collect the passengers of a migrant dinghy on Tuesday, and the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said they would be transferred to Border Security Command.
In Hampshire, local Reform UK leader councillor George Madgwick captured footage of the massive convoy leaving Gosport empty-handed, with the vision shared by GB News’ Patrick Christys, who said: “This is not the King’s motorcade. Or the Prime Minister’s. This is the police escort for a load of empty coaches that were due to collect illegal immigrants from Gosport”
Christys had earlier criticised both the British and French governments regarding Channel crossings.
“Absolutely insane day in the Channel – we have been treated to an absolute charade by the French and British authorities. It feels like the last week has been a big turning point in terms of what’s been happening in the Channel.”
The failed motorcade departed the region after police arrested six people as anti-migrant protesters “became hostile” in Gosport. – hundreds of protesters gathered in the naval town.
The vessel carrying the migrants instead headed east along the coast, arriving at Dover early on Wednesday morning.
Around a dozen protesters were spotted in the area, with local police having blocked off a nearby road.
At the height of the protest, around 200 people gathered in the town, with a legion of people donning masks in anticipation of the boat landing. Some were heard chanting “send them back” as the vessel approached.
The boat, which is believed to have around 60 people on board, was intercepted by the Border Force and instead ferried the migrants away from protesters to Dover. MP Dame Caroline Dinenage confirmed: “This is a good result. All day I have been making the case to the Home Office that this boat should not disembark in Gosport.”
Andy Burnham savaged as one in five UK working age adults now on benefits
Critics warn it is “unfair to taxpayers footing the bill” and Britain “can’t afford” it.
Andy Burnham is under pressure to get a grip on the benefits bill. (Image: Getty)
One in five working-age Brits is on universal credit, according to new research. Some 7.3 million people aged between 20 and 64 in England and Wales were receiving the benefit as of May 2026, the analysis by the Taxpayers’ Alliance found.
That includes 3.3 million under 40, with 1.3 million in their 20s. The research showed that 54 council areas have a quarter of the working-age population on benefits, which are for people who are jobless or on a low income to help with living costs.
William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “In some places, dependency on universal credit has become endemic.
“Generations are being dumped on benefits: written off and condemned to a life of dependency as ministers make it harder for them to find a job.
“If Andy Burnham was serious about growth in every postcode, he would be making it more affordable to hire young people.”
Councils with the highest proportion of older people on universal credit are concentrated in London, including more than half of those in their 50s and 60s in Tower Hamlets.
Coastal towns such as Thanet, Great Yarmouth and Hartlepool tend to have more younger people on benefits.
Blackpool was the local authority with the largest share of the working-age population claiming universal credit at 35.2%.
Tory shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately warned it is “unfair to taxpayers footing the bill” and that Britain “can’t afford” it.
She added: “I’ve been to benefit hotspots like Blackpool, where welfare has become a way of life. This has to stop. A generation of talent is also being wasted when young people sign up for welfare instead of starting work.
“It’s clear Andy Burnham — like his predecessor — does not have the backbone to reform welfare. He said himself he puts social security before national security.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Three-quarters of the increase in Universal Credit cases since July 2024 is driven by people moving from legacy benefits – a transition started by the previous Government.
“Many people receiving Universal Credit are already in employment, and our reforms will go further to tackle the perverse incentives that discourage work, and we’re investing £3.5 billion in employment support for disabled people and people with long-term conditions.
“We’re putting work and opportunity at the heart of the system, and the final recommendations from the Timms and Milburn Reviews will lay the foundation for sustainable reform.”