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Telegraph

Keir Starmer's failure to tackle the people smugglers betrays Britain's vulnerability

SIR – If Sir Keir Starmer cannot defend our shores from people smugglers (' Why Britain faces its worst ever summer for migrant crossings ', report, June 3) then he frankly has no chance of defending the country against a modern, well-trained and equipped opponent. Until the Prime Minister stops the arrival of thousands of illegal migrants to the south coast, nobody will believe a word he says with regard to the defence of this country. Ian Grice East Haddon, Northamptonshire SIR – The United Kingdom has a massive housing shortage, congested roads and a looming water shortage. How does the Government think that the huge numbers of illegal migrants landing on our shores will do anything other than exacerbate these problems? Nobody has been building a town the size of Torquay each year to keep up with this population explosion. This comes on top of high legal migration. If more workers are needed, we must help the existing millions of young British adults into work instead of writing them off. Duncan Hartley Solihull SIR – The massive expansion of the number of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel this year is apparently down to the increased number of days with suitable weather for crossings. The incontestable follow on from this statement from the Home Office is that the only remedy the current Government has for this issue is to pray for bad weather. If there was any other viable policy on offer, surely the Government would have drawn our attention to it. Andrew Beale Hoveton, Norfolk SIR – We pay huge amounts of taxpayer's money to France, only for its police force to stand idly by watching overloaded boats setting off for Britain (' France agrees to intercept migrant boats for first time ', report June 5). Even if this situation does change, surely this money would be more effectively spent if it were paid directly to the people smugglers, on condition that they seek an alternative form of employment. Richard Hall Egginton, Derbyshire