Reform UK MP Lee Anderson visited the migrant camp at Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk in northern France, and handed a packet of Smints to a ten-year-old boy living in a tent beside a burning pile of plastic rubbish. The boy smiled shyly and asked Anderson: "Thank you, please can you put out the fire?" The flames were too fierce for Anderson's eight-strong security team to tackle, and a fire engine arrived shortly afterwards to extinguish the blaze.
A party source had claimed in advance that Anderson would spark "action" at the camp by confronting charity workers who feed and advise the migrants there, reportedly planning to ask female volunteers in their twenties whether they knew what migrants "do to young women like you in England". The visit itself was calmer than the source had predicted.
Camp has grown since last visit
Anderson had last visited the camp three years ago and said it had grown significantly since then. It has also grown since the Mail's last visit in April. The camp, beside a flyover at Grande-Synthe, now has 50 portable toilets in its makeshift "town centre" and covers acres of copses and waste ground with hundreds of tents.
Most occupants are young men, but Anderson noted a rising number of women and children, with several pushchairs visible. Free food was served to hundreds of people in long queues, while stallholders sold meals, SIM cards, phone chargers, cigarettes and bottles of juice.
Somali migrant threatens security team
Anderson spoke to anyone at the camp who spoke English, including Hassan, 22, from Somalia, who called the politician a "motherf*****". Hassan had earlier threatened to stab members of Anderson's security team and kidnap the only woman in the Reform group, before calming down after security gave him two cigarettes.
Hassan told Anderson he was heading for England, having paid €1,200 (£1,000), and planned to settle in Scotland, saying he liked Edinburgh. "I'm not going to be a billionaire, I'm not going to be 'big big', I want a normal life," he said. Gesturing with a finger that was missing its tip, he told Anderson: "I don't like what you are doing. We need food. We don't eat. You don't need to eat, you just come with car, you go with car, it's easy for you. I'm black, I'm different to you."
Anderson said afterwards: "On a human level, you do feel sorry for this chap. But he's going to be trouble, and cost us a lot of money. Do we want this sort of person in our country? I don't want him in my village, most people in our country wouldn't want him living in an HMO near them."
Iraqi migrant fled violent militias
Anderson also spoke, through a translator, with Amir, 32, who said he had fled violent militias in Iraq and left his wife and children in Istanbul before travelling to the camp to prepare for a crossing to England. Asked why he did not stay in France, Amir said authorities there would not give him papers. Asked why he did not stay in Turkey, he said Turkish authorities had accepted his family but not him. Asked about the danger of the Channel crossing, Amir said: "I would rather die in the water than die in Iraq."
Reform's 'Operation Fortress' plan
Anderson accused charities operating at the camp of supporting a "multi-billion pound trade" centred on migrants and said the dinghy crossings must be stopped. His visit came hours after Reform announced "Operation Fortress", a plan to use a Royal Navy force to intercept dinghies and return migrants directly, a proposal France has rejected.
Migrant tries to board Reform minibus
As the Reform media minibus prepared to leave the camp, a migrant repeatedly tried to step through its open door, saying in Arabic: "Take me to London." Security struggled to stop him, and the group was only able to leave after quickly shutting the doors and driving off.
