Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has told Sky News he is to call in police after claims that drug abuse is rife in the Houses of Parliament.

Sir Lindsay is demanding a drugs crackdown – including sniffer dogs prowling the corridors – amid growing evidence of cannabis and cocaine being used openly.

Allegations include a claim that a former MP put his drug dealer on the parliamentary payroll, claiming he was a member of staff, as a way of paying him for drugs.

And, according to a report in The Sunday Times, the same former MP is rumoured to have dealt drugs himself and at least one parliamentary aide has been sacked for taking cocaine.

Responding to the report, Sir Lindsay told Sky News: “The accounts of drug misuse in parliament given to The Sunday Times are deeply concerning, and I will be raising them as a priority with the Metropolitan Police next week.

“I expect to see full and effective enforcement of the law.

“While parliament provides extensive support services for any staff or members who may need help with drug misuse – and I would encourage anyone struggling with such issues to take up such help – for those who choose to flout the law and bring the institution into disrepute the sanctions are serious.”

Sir Lindsay, who is 64 and is diabetic, has spoken out against drug abuse in parliament since he became Speaker in November 2019.

Speaking during his campaign to succeed John Bercow, he said: “It’s not just drink we’ve got to catch out, there is a drug problem. I genuinely believe that counselling and real support should be available for all staff and members.”

In another move to crack down on drug abuse at Westminster, the House of Commons Commission, responsible for the running of the Commons, is to discuss the issue next week.

“The House of Commons has a long history of sniffer dogs being used to detect explosives,” Tory MP Charles Walker, who chairs the administration committee, told The Sunday Times.

“It may be that we now need to broaden the range of sniffer dogs to include those which can detect drugs.”

The Sunday Times reported that Commons officials received reports last month that cannabis could be smelt in an open space between Portcullis House and 1 Parliament Street.

This came after it was revealed that two drug dealers were arrested, and 13 people were detained for drugs possession in or near parliament in the space of a year.

The Sunday Times also reported that drug detection wipes found evidence of cocaine in 11 out of 12 lavatories tested in the building, including some restricted to parliamentary pass holders.

The locations were said to include lavatories near the offices of Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel and a disabled bathroom on the Shadow Cabinet corridor in the Norman Shaw North building.

Figures released by the Metropolitan Police under freedom of information laws show there were 17 drug crimes in or near parliament in the past year, and police investigated 38 offences between 2015 and 2018.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/commons-speaker-sir-lindsay-hoyle-to-call-in-police-over-claims-of-drug-abuse-in-the-houses-of-parliament-12487771

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If officially confirmed, the figure will be the highest daily total of migrant crossings into Britain on record.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The number of illegal migrants we have seen departing from France today (Thursday) is unacceptable.

“The British public have had enough of seeing people die in the Channel while ruthless criminal gangs profit from their misery and our New Plan for Immigration will fix the broken system which encourages migrants to make this lethal journey.”

The current record for the number of migrants arriving in the UK aboard small boats in a single day is 853, which was set on 3 November.

On Thursday, children wrapped in blankets were helped ashore in Dover, Kent as Border Force responded to a flurry of small boats in the English Channel.

Groups of people were seen arriving at the port aboard lifeboats as well as Border Force’s Hurricane vessel.

Further along the coast, in Hastings, more people were reportedly seen arriving on a beach after being picked up by the RNLI.

In recent weeks, at least two people have died while trying to attempt the perilous journey and several more have been feared to be lost at sea.

More than 22,300 people have successfully completed the trip this year, according to data compiled by the PA news agency – which is more than double the number for the whole of 2020.

In the last seven days, PA figures show more than 1,200 people have reached the UK.

In 2019, Home Secretary Priti Patel promised to make migrant crossings an “infrequent phenomenon” by spring 2020 and then pledged in August last year to “make this route unviable”.

Since then, the government has agreed to pay France £54m to increase immigration controls.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/around-1-000-migrants-cross-into-the-uk-in-one-day-as-government-says-british-public-have-had-enough-12466562

The post Around 1,000 migrants cross into the UK in one day as government says ‘British public have had enough’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

A record number of migrants have attempted to cross the English Channel today, according to witnesses.

It’s thought at least 1,000 men, women and children were spotted making the journey from France to the UK.

The Home Office has put the figure at lower than that but cannot yet say whether the record was broken.

The previous high of 828 migrants was reached 21 August.

It is understood the number may be down to the fine weather after weeks of unsettled conditions.

A group of migrants are brought ashore from the local lifeboat at Dungeness in Kent on Monday

Lifeboat teams have been bringing groups of migrants ashore, including a baby and several young children, following a day which saw the first people escorted to safety from the Channel to Dover in more than a fortnight.

Eyewitnesses have described authorities including Border Force and the RNLI as appearing to be very busy as a steady stream of crossings was thought to be under way on calm waters and under warm, sunny skies.

French authorities were also on alert for more migrant crossings.

Local Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) teams based in Kent picked up a small boat carrying a large group of migrants at Dungeness on Monday morning.

The group were brought ashore on Monday

The post Migrant crisis: Record number tried to cross Channel to UK today, say witnesses first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.