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Women taking on traditionally male television and film roles is leaving young British men vulnerable to a life of crime, a Conservative MP has suggested.Nick Fletcher claimed the lack of heroic male role models – citing an actress taking the lead in Doctor Who and the all-female Ghostbusters reboot – had left young men idolising violent anti-heroes.Speaking at an International Men’s Day debate in parliament, the Tory MP complained of calls from “a tiny, yet very vocal minority, that every male character or good role model must have a female replacement”.He told fellow MPs: “One only needs to look at the discussion surrounding who will play the next James Bond. And it’s not just James Bond – in recent years we’ve seen Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker … all replaced by women.”Mr Fletcher added: “Men are left with the Krays and Tommy Shelby. Is it any wonder we are seeing so many young men committing crime?”The MP for Don Valley said drama programmes such as Peaky Blinders, featuring the aforementioned gangster Tommy Shelby, “made crime look cool”. He added: “Trust me – a life in prison is not cool.”After his comments caused a stir on social media, Mr Fletcher later released a statement on Twitter saying his remarks had been “misconstrued” – insisting that he had “in no way linked Doctor Who being a female to crime being committed by men”.He added: “I did not link a Doctor Who being female to crime being committed by men. In fact, I was making a statement that boys and young men also need positive role models within the media, just as women do.”Earlier, the Tory backbencher told parliament that he wanted “men to have their own identity and masculinity to be celebrated at times – rather than vilified”.He added: “When a young boy hears masculinity being constantly linked with toxicity in societal discourse then it is no wonder so many suffer from a sense of worthlessness and isolation.”Speaking during the debate in Westminster Hall, SNP MP Gavin Newlands said the idea of an International Men’s Day was “anathema to me”, adding: “It’s a rather cruel joke concocted in response to feminism, women’s rights and International Women’s Day.”Mr Newlands added that international days were best-suited to “the oppressed, the underprivileged or those facing inequality”. But the MP said he accepted that people involved in International Men’s Day were “doing so for the very best of reasons”.Speculation over Daniel Craig’s replacement and the possibility of a female Bond has been rife ever since the star confirmed he would bow out of the franchise – but producer Barbara Broccoli has repeatedly nixed the idea of a woman taking the lead role.Nevertheless, Boris Johnson last month insisted that the next James Bond has “got to be” a man and housing secretary Michael Gove ridiculed Sir Keir Starmer’s suggestion in September that a woman takes over as 007. The Labour leader said: “I don’t have a favourite Bond, but I do think it is time for a female Bond.” More

French fishermen have said they plan to blockade the channel tunnel in protest at Britain’s refusal to issue them with work licences.The running dispute over the post-Brexit fishing rights is expected to boil over on Friday and cause even more disruption to UK supply chains.The channel tunnel is a vital artery and carried vast volumes of freight and passenger traffic between the continent and the UK.Announcing the measure at a press conference on Thursday, Gerard Romiti, President of National Maritime Fisheries Committee, said: “This is our demonstration of the quality and ability of professional fishermen to mobilise in response to the UK’s provocative, contemptuous and humiliating attitude towards them.”The fishermen say they are not being given what they are owed under the Brexit deal, which said all those currently fishing in UK waters could continue to do so.But onerous conditions placed on the issuing of licences have meant that many of those who have sought licences have been turned down. Authorities are demanding proof in the form of GPS location data which some fishermen say they do not have.In April fishermen look matters into their own hand and blocked trucks carrying fish from British waters to processing centres in France.But the channel tunnel action would mark an escalation. British authorities say they are relying on France – whose government backs the fishermen – to prevent the tunnel from being blocked.French ministers have offered to take action at a national and European level to take up the cause of their fleets against the UK.It is unclear how the fishermen intend to blockade the tunnel, which has a high-security area around its portals on both sides of the channel.The Independent has contacted the channel tunnel operator GetLink for comment on this story.Discussing the prospect of a blockade, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We are disappointed by the threat but it would be for the French authorities to ensure that no illegal actions take place and to ensure that trade is not affected.Asked if plans were in place to avoid shortages of key goods like medicines, he said: “We have incredibly resilient supply chains. And obviously, this is something that we’ll continue to look closely at, as we always have done.“We have contingency plans in place but I wouldn’t get into the details of them here.” More

The UK and France’s response to the migrant crisis in the English Channel has been branded “shameful” by a Tory peer who served as a senior adviser to William Hague during his time as foreign secretary.Arminka Helic’s comment came as Sir Keir Starmer accused home secretary Priti Patel of chasing headlines with threats to turn back small boats while failing to achieve anything to resolve the problem, which on Wednesday saw at least 27 people drown after a dinghy sank.Ms Patel today told the House of Commons that “in terms of toughness… I have not ruled anything out”.Delivering a statement to MPs on the Channel tragedy, the Home Secretary confirmed that she has authorised Border Force to use “push back” tactics to force boats back to the French coast.She told MPs she was considering “offshoring” the processing of migrants or sending them to another country while their applications for asylum are being considered.And she said that in a phone call with French interior minister Gerald Darmanin today she repeated the UK’s offer of personnel to take part in joint patrols to intercept vessels launching from beaches, as well as technology to detect movements of vehicles carrying migrants to embarkation points.After France rejected the offer of uniformed British police or border officials on sovereignty grounds, Ms Patel floated proposals for “unwarranted” officers with no power of arrest who could assist with surveillance duties.“We have put forward a very, very significant technology offer which does include enhanced surveillance,” she told MPs. “It does include ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) on the roads coming up to the beaches.“We’ve also offered to put more officers – unwarranted because they will not take warranted officers – but these are the things I will be working through very specifically now because the status quo cannot persist.”But Starmer was dismissive of her promises of action, telling the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast: “To be honest, I’m sick of the home secretary playing to the headlines on this with grand statements about what she’s going to do – turning boats back and all the rest of it – but actually not achieving anything in relation to this issue.”And Baroness Helic said the focus by the UK and France on security measures to block sailings was “shameful for both countries”.Lady Helic, who fled to Britain from Bosnia during the 1990s war and served as a foreign policy adviser to the Tories from 1998 onwards, told Times Radio: “We shouldn’t be having a ding-dong ping-pong with people whose destinies are connected to the most horrible experiences that they would have had and they are looking for a better life or they’re looking simply for safety.”She called on the UK to show “leadership” in devising an international solution to the problem of 85 million refugees and displaced people all over the world.“Don’t think of these people as these nameless zombies that are crossing different countries,” she said. “They at some point had a home and their children went to school, they had a street that they lived in, they had friends and relatives, they probably played football just like you do.“They probably watched something on TV that they all enjoyed, and they had their favourite meal, and they had their favourite pastime. They’re people just like us. Think of them as another human being and think of yourself as being lucky to have been born in this country because it could have been you, it could have been me, it could have been any one of us.”Ms Patel told the House of Commons it was a “complete myth and fallacy” to suggest the UK should not look at all options to deal with the migrant crisis, including stopping boats entering territorial waters.The UK needs to work with other countries to tackle the small boats crisis but there was “no silver bullet” solution available, she said.“We cannot do it alone,” said Ms Patel. “We continue to work closely with the French to prevent crossings.“More than 20,000 have been stopped this year… we have dismantled 17 organised criminal groups and secured over 400 arrests and 65 convictions.“But this crisis continues, clearly demonstrating we need to do more together.“This is a complicated issue and there is no simple fix. It does need a Herculean effort and it will be impossible without close co-operation between all international partners and agencies.”She added: “What happened yesterday was a dreadful shock, it was not a surprise but it is also a reminder of how vulnerable people are put at peril when in the hands of criminal gangs.“There is also no quick fix. This is about addressing long-term pull factors, smashing the criminal gangs that treat human beings as cargo and tackling supply chains.”Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds urged Ms Patel to “urgently reinstate” the Dubs Scheme to provide safe routes to the UK for unaccompanied child migrants, which was set up by David Cameron following a campaign for Labour peer and wartime refugee Alf Dubs.“The Dubs Scheme was closed down having helped only 480 unaccompanied children rather than the 3,000 that it expected to help,” said Mr Thomas-Symonds. Will that scheme be urgently reinstated?”The shadow home secretary also highlighted new figures showing that in its first year of operation, the new UK Resettlement Scheme had helped only 770 people, compared to the 5,000 promised on its launch.Ms Patel also came under pressure to name a date for the commencement of the resettlement scheme for 20,000 Afghans announced at the time of the Taliban takeover in August. But she was unable to say when the scheme will open, saying that discussions were ongoing with the UN High Commission for Refugees on how it will operate. More

Germany s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her “full solidarity” Thursday with Warsaw over Poland s tense border situation with Belarus Merkel reiterated her accusation that Belarus was carrying out a “hybrid attack” by luring migrants to the country and then sending them to the Polish border in an effort to destabilize both Poland and the European Union as a whole.“Therefore full solidary with Poland on the one hand, and on the other hand I want to of course express very clearly that this is an issue between the European Union and Belarus, and that’s why everything that happens bilaterally needs to be coordinated,” she told reporters after a meeting in Berlin with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.Her comments were seen as a response to Polish criticism that she had failed to coordinate with Warsaw before recently reaching out to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. After Merkel’s call, Belarus began repatriating some migrants back to Iraq.Merkel said the EU would impose additional sanctions on Belarus “if no progress is seen.”She also stressed the role that Belarus’ close ally Russia could play in putting pressure on Minsk. That sentiment was echoed by Morawiecki, who said that there was a “cordial request (to Putin) to exert influence on the situation in Belarus.”Morawiecki said trade sanctions would be a powerful instrument against Belarus.Separately, Merkel lamented that Putin had refused her suggestion for a summit on the situation in Ukraine “I greatly regretted that neither the Russian president nor the Russian foreign minister were prepared to hold one more high-level meeting under the Normandy format before the end of my time in office,” Merkel said, referring to the four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.Such talks have been staged repeatedly over the years to resolve tensions between Ukraine and its neighbor Russia, with limited success.“This would have been a good signal that all sides are interested in a solution to the Ukraine issue,” Merkel said. “This, sadly, didn’t happen.” More

Patel ‘not achieving anything’ on Channel crossings, says StarmerBoris Johnson’s government is putting pressure on France to accept its offer of combined UK-French police and border force patrols across the Channel, to prevent another incident such as the capsizing of an inflatable migrant boat last night, which killed 27 people – 17 men, 7 women, two teenage boys and a girl.After the PM made the offer to French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, home secretary Priti Patel appeared in the Commons today to insist she had “once again reached out” and made a “very clear offer” to her French counterpart, Gerald Darmanin, of combined patrols across the coast to “prevent these dangerous journeys from taking place”. France previously declined such a move, citing sovereignty concerns, with Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont saying this morning the move “wouldn’t work”.Ms Patel told MPs there is “no quick fix” to solving the migrant crisis, and called on Britain’s “international partners” to engage in a “coordinated effort” to crack down on human trafficking gangs. It was put to the Tory minister, by various Labour members, that her unworkable border controls were to blame for increased small boat crossings, not just smugglers. Follow our live coverage belowShow latest update

1637852094How has Brexit affected the migrant crisis?Dozens of people died on Wednesday making the perilous journey across the sea, following UK government attempts to make the crossings more difficult.So far this year more than 25,700 people have managed to complete the perilous crossing. Of those, just five have been returned to Europe, ministers say.What is less realised is that this is partly down to Britain’s departure from the European Union.How does that work? Our policy correspondent Jon Stone takes a closer look.Sam Hancock25 November 2021 14:541637849504Britain working tirelessly to fix UK’s ‘broken asylum system’ – PatelPatel repeats again that the government is working “tirelessly” to “fix the UK’s broken asylum system”. She says Britain can only fix these issues by “working with our international partners”.The session is now over and MPs are leaving the chamber.Sam Hancock25 November 2021 14:111637849321Patel requests ‘honest assessment’ of situation in FranceBack to Patel in the Commons now, who has been asked by Conservative former minister David Davis about the offers made by the UK to France.She says she “asked them today for an honest assessment in terms of their own numbers on the beaches, whether or not there are gaps, if more officers are needed, a realistic assessment in terms of the number of migrants that are coming from Belgium in particular”, and suggests observation can be hard in bad weather. France’s interior minister has indicated there is heavy “flow” of migrant boats coming from Dunkirk, she says, which is where the boat yesterday came from.Patel says UK has offered more police officers, more intelligence co-operation, more on technologies. “We have put forward a very, very significant technology offer which does include enhanced surveillance, it does include ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) on the roads coming up to the beaches,” she says.“We’ve also offered to put more officers – unwarranted because they will not take warranted officers – but these are the things I will be working through very specifically now because the status quo cannot persist.”Sam Hancock25 November 2021 14:081637848849Those killed in capsized boat: 17 men, 7 women, two teenage boys and young girlBBC Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall reports confirmation of 27 victims, including 17 men, 7 women, two teenage boys and a girl.Sam Hancock25 November 2021 14:001637848526‘Myth’ to suggest UK not considering all options to solve migrant crisisThe home secretary says it is a “complete myth and fallacy” to suggest the UK should not look at all options to deal with the migrant crisis, including turning boats around in territorial waters.Patel cites the work of Frontex – the EU border agency – including their surveillance work and border patrols.“They are even supporting activity in the Mediterranean in terms of stopping boats entering territorial waters illegally, I’ve seen those patrols myself,” she tells MPs. “So it’s a complete myth and fallacy to say that we shouldn’t look at all options. We are and we will continue to do so.”Patel adds she is glad French president Emmanuel Macron has “indicated his determination to stop the vile people smuggling gangs” and to work closely with all partners across Europe.Sam Hancock25 November 2021 13:551637848164Patel lays out number of smugglers stopped this yearPatel is insisting the UK needs to work with other countries to tackle the small boats crisis, telling MPs the government has “dismantled 17 organised criminal groups and secured over 400 arrests and 65 convictions” this year alone. She said more than 20,000 migrants had been intercepted in total. “But this crisis continues, clearly demonstrating we need to do more together,” she says. “This is a complicated issue and there is no simple fix. It does need a Herculean effort and it will be impossible without close co-operation between all international partners and agencies.”She also urged MPs to support the Nationality and Borders Bill, saying: “As we mourn those who have died in the most horrendous of circumstances, I hope that the whole House can come together to send a clear message that crossing the Channel in this lethal way in a small boat is not the way to come to our country.”Sam Hancock25 November 2021 13:491637847020Bishop of Dover’s ‘rage’ over Channel deaths The Bishop of Dover has spoken about her “rage” about the deaths, and called for the issue of migration to stop being used as a “political football”.The Right Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, a former chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, told BBC Radio Kent: “I am feeling a deep inner rage that the world continues to allow this to happen, couched with political rhetoric as to whose fault it is.“This is all our fault, we must all take responsibility.“This is not something that should be left to one or two countries so we can throw blame backwards and forward – this is an international crisis, people are dying, and people are desperate.”The Church of England cleric added: “This is solvable – there is enough money in the world. What we now need is the will, what we need is the compassion for others.“We have got to stop playing political football.”Tom Batchelor25 November 2021 13:301637846524‘Time for urgent action to save lives is now,’ says shadow home secretaryIn the Commons, the shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, asked Priti Patel if the Dubs scheme to resettle unaccompanied child migrants would be “urgently reinstated”.He demanded to know when the promised resettlement of 20,000 vulnerable Afghans would begin.Mr Thomas-Symonds also called on ministers to reverse a cut to international aid. “The time for urgent action to save lives is now,” he said.Tom Batchelor25 November 2021 13:221637846302Priti Patel calls for ‘coordinated international effort’ to tackle Channel crossings Priti Patel has confirmed that she made a “very clear” offer to French counterpart Gerald Darmanin in a phone call today of UK personnel to undertake joint patrols on French beaches to prevent small boat crossings.Addressing MPs, Ms Patel said that a “co-ordinated international effort” was needed to target people-smugglers, and told the House of Commons that she had also been speaking to ministers in Poland, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Greece.“People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, and nobody needs to flee France in order to be safe,” said the home secretary.Tom Batchelor25 November 2021 13:181637846216Starmer: Patel ‘not achieving anything’ on Channel crossingsKeir Starmer has accused Priti Patel of coming up with “grand statements” on the tragedy in the channel but “not actually achieving anything”.Speaking to the BBC, he said the home secretary was “playing to the headlines”.Tom Batchelor25 November 2021 13:16 More

The issue of people crossing the channel in small boats is back in the headlines.Dozens of people died on Wednesday making the perilous journey across the sea, following UK government attempts to make the crossings more difficult. So far this year more than 25,700 people have managed to complete the perilous crossing. The government says it wants to make the journey unviable to deter people from making it – but is refusing to create safe alternative routes for people trying to claim asylum.While dangerous, making the journey appears to pay off for the vast majority who complete it.Of the 25,700 to have made it safely to the UK, just five have been returned to Europe, ministers say.What is less realised is that this is partly down to Britain’s departure from the European Union. Despite rhetoric about borders and immigration playing a major role in the Leave vote, EU cooperation played a significant role in border policing before Brexit.The figure of five returnees is significantly down on the 294 people who were returned last year in 2020. In that year, the UK was still covered by EU rules because of the transition period.In 2020 the UK was still party to the EU’s “Dublin” regulations. These rules allowed the government to ask other European countries to take people back if it could be proved they passed through safe European countries on their way to the UK.The government has failed to negotiate direct replacements for the Dublin regulations. While it has tried to toughen up domestic law to restrict asylum applications, the UK simply cannot deport people without the consent of a destination country to send them to.Now all returns have to be individually negotiated with other countries.However, this Brexit effect should not be overstated. Even under the Dublin regime, fewer than 10 per cent of people applying for asylum were returned under the regulations.But it is notable that Britain leaving the EU’s sphere of cooperation has made it harder to police Britain’s sea border, not easier. More

A delegation of Conservative backbenchers have held talks with Boris Johnson amid swirling speculation about MPs’ dissatisfaction over his performance as prime minister.In an unusual move, the executive of the 1922 Committee met the PM en masse in 10 Downing Street.It came as a senior Tory MP told The Independent that the PM risks a challenge to his leadership in the new year unless he halts his recent run of political blunders.Party sources have played down reports that as many as a dozen MPs have sent letters of no confidence in the PM to 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady, with whips saying they had no information of this happening.A total of 54 letters are required to trigger a leadership election, but Sir Graham always remains firmly tight-lipped about the number he has received until the threshold is passed.Brady confirmed today that the executive had met the Prime Minister in No 10 but declined to comment on their discussions.The meeting prompted inevitable speculation that the 13-member committee wanted to raise backbench concerns about a torrid month for the PM, which has seen Toris slump behind Labour in the polls after a series of self-inflicted blows, starting with the botched attempt to save an MP from punishment for sleaze and also taking in the mishandled launches of policies on rail and social care.Earlier, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman played down reports of tensions between Mr Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak.“They continue to work together very well at all levels,” the spokesman said. More

The MP for Calais has suggested a British offer to provide police and border force for joint patrols along the coast of the Channel “wouldn’t work”, as he raised issues around sovereignty.Pierre-Henri Dumont’s intervention comes after at least 27 people lost their lives attempting to make the treacherous journey across the English Chanel — the worst migrant tragedy in the region in recent history.After an emergency meeting of the government’s Cobra committee, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday evening that France had previously rejected the offer of practical help from the UK.Immigration compliance minister Tom Pursglove confirmed that the prime minister had renewed a previous offer to send UK police and Border Force officers to mount joint patrols with the French.“It is the case that in the past we have offered to host and to help with joint patrols. I think that could be invaluable in helping to address this issue. I really do hope that the French will reconsider that offer,” he told BBC Newsnight.Home secretary Priti Patel was understood to be restating the offer in a call with French counterpart Gerald Darmanin on Thursday, which followed a phone conversation between Mr Johnson and president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening. Asked what could be done in practical terms, Mr Dumont, the MP for Calais, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m not sure that having more police officers or more materials on the French shore will help to stop these crossings.“We’ve got 200 or 300km of shore to monitor 24/7 and it only takes five or 10 minutes to take a boat and put it at sea filled with migrants, so I’m not sure it’s only a question about money and the question about the number of men.”Questioned on the British proposal to provide patrols on the French beaches, he went on: ““No, that wouldn’t work.“To monitor all the shore would take thousands of people. There is also a question of sovereignty — I’m not sure the British people would accept it the other way round, with the French army patrolling the British shore.”The MP for Calais also urged France to do more for migrants with welcoming centres for them to be processed “to have have a rest, for them to have food, for them to have to have a roof”.Whitehall sources accepted that there was no “silver bullet” solution which could bring illicit crossings to an instant halt.With as many as 70 per cent of those attempting crossings believed to have travelled from neighbouring countries to the French coast, rather than being based in France, the UK is also seeking co-operation with other European states.Kevin Foster, a UK immigration minister said: “Obviously our heart goes out in terms of those who have lost their lives yesterday and their loved ones,” he said.“As you know, at least 27 people have died but it is a dynamic situation, the French authorities are investigating and obviously we’re keen to let them get on with their work and we’ve obviously offered any support we can give.”Mr Foster added: “The Channel are dangerous waters and people setting off in flimsy boats without proper life saving gear, organised and facilitated by ruthless criminals, sadly the dangers are very obvious.“Sadly yesterday’s tragedy emphasises that and the real sad part of this is those who organised that boat yesterday would have just viewed these people, 27 at least people who passed away, as just a profit-making opportunity. That is why we are so determined to smash this really evil business model.”The Joint Council of Welfare for Immigrants, however, described the tragedy as “completely predictable” saying: “Indeed it was predicted and it was completely preventable”.Zoe Gardner from the charity added: “This has to be a time for our government to mark a turning point, this tragedy must not be allowed to continue and that means changing our approach, not more of the same failed policies.“We need to offer people alternatives to the smuggling boats. The French are patrolling their own borders insufficiently, it’s absolutely horrendous, those images of the French police standing by while children got onto one of those unsafe vessels are shocking to me.”But Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson said that the prime minister believes that setting up facilities in northern France to provide a safe route over the Channel would simply provide another “pull factor” for migrants.He said the UK was instead focused on providing “upstream” access to safe routes to Britain and other European countries nearer to migrants’ home countries.“All countries have a responsibility to provide safe routes for those most at risk,” said the spokesperson. “That is what the UK is doing with Syria and more recently Afghanistan.“That is how we have resettled 25,000 refugees and provided costed support for them in communities.”The spokesperson was unable to give a date for the commencement of the promised resettlement scheme for 20,000 Afghans, saying only that the details of the operation were still being worked out with the UN High Commission for Refugees. 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