The Liberal Democrats have today announced plans to end the small boats crisis, calling for the UK to join the EU’s landmark new Migration and Asylum Pact, granting Britain sweeping new powers to return migrants and gaining new access to EU-wide biometric data.

Since Brexit, over 200,000 people have made the dangerous Channel crossing in small boats, up from zero before the referendum.

The Liberal Democrats have today said Britain must join the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which would give the UK new powers to legally return migrants to the first EU country they entered.

Joining the new pact would also grant Britain access to the EU’s biometric database. Currently, the Home Office has no knowledge of the identity of arrivals or whether they've already been refused asylum by neighbouring countries.

Being outside the EU has been described as a “major pull factor” driving the crisis. The Lib Dems say asylum seekers know Britain has no watertight returns agreement, and no access to data to show whose asylum applications have already been denied elsewhere.

Authorities have admitted that ‘at least 15’ convicted people smugglers have been able to enter and live in the UK because of the failure of checks, including the ‘godfather’ of the migrant camps Twana Jamal. Brexit has made it more difficult to carry out checks, as the UK no longer has access to EU-wide databases with crucial background information and criminal history.

Davey and Chadwick have argued that the Conservatives and Farage, who pushed through their Brexit deal, deceived the public by claiming Brexit would protect our borders and now are “exploiting the mess they created for their own gain.”

The party says Wales and Britain must continue its proud history of welcoming those fleeing persecution, but that cannot be via small boats. Joining the new pact would finally give Britain a humane, orderly and cost-effective asylum system.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “Farage and the Conservatives should hang their heads in shame for breaking our borders with their bad Brexit deal. But instead of apologising to the British public, they are now exploiting the mess they created for their own gain.

“We have a plan that would finally end the small boats crisis: a pact with every EU country that will allow us to return people who come over the Channel, taking away the major pull factor that Farage and co created and destroying the business model of the criminal gangs.”

David Chadwick, MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe said: “People across Wales were promised that Brexit would mean taking back control of our borders. Instead, the Conservatives and Nigel Farage left Britain with fewer tools to tackle illegal migration and then spent years failing to get a grip on dangerous small boat crossings.

“Now the very people who championed that botched Brexit deal want to exploit the consequences of it for their own political gain.

“The answer is not more empty rhetoric or hugely expensive gimmicks. We need a system that is firm, fair and actually works, and that means rebuilding cooperation with our European neighbours.

“Joining the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact would give us practical tools to tackle the problem, including a legal route to return people and access to vital information currently unavailable to British authorities.

“Wales and the rest of the UK should continue to offer sanctuary to those genuinely fleeing persecution, but that must happen through a safe, controlled and orderly system, not through dangerous Channel crossings that put lives at risk and hand huge profits to criminal gangs.”