All 2 Debates between Giles Watling and Lord Mackinlay of Richborough

Wed 16th Nov 2022
Migration
Commons Chamber
(Urgent Question)

Migration

Debate between Giles Watling and Lord Mackinlay of Richborough
Wednesday 16th November 2022

(2 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

Giles Watling Portrait Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)
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On 23 September, when I was crossing the channel—quite legally—I spotted the French warship Athos behaving very strangely. I have here a screenshot of the warship, which I took on a navigational device. It was circling a small open boat full of people.

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Portrait Craig Mackinlay
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Escorting it.

Giles Watling Portrait Giles Watling
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The warship made no attempt to pick those people up, as it should have. As a yachtsman, I can tell the House that they were in danger and should have been taken off the boat, but the warship was, as my hon. Friend says, escorting that boat to our shores.

I am pleased with the deal that the Home Secretary made, and it is, as my right hon. Friend said, a good first step, but in my view it does not go far enough. Should we not push to get British boots on the ground and on the beaches alongside their French counterparts, in joint operations, to keep people on the shores of France, or on the shores of the continent?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Giles Watling and Lord Mackinlay of Richborough
Monday 8th January 2018

(6 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Giles Watling Portrait Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)
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17. What steps she is taking to upgrade Border Force boats.

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Portrait Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)
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21. What steps she is taking to upgrade Border Force boats.