Cameron sparks anger with ‘migrant swarms’

David Cameron was under mounting pressure last night after describing migrants trying to reach Britain as a "swarm".

The comment was branded “disgraceful” by Labour leadership candidate Andy Burnham, while Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “We are talking about human beings here, not insects.”

The British prime minister used the emotive term as he discussed measures being taken to deal with chaotic scenes at Calais, where large numbers of migrants living in a tent city have attempted to enter the Channel Tunnel.

Speaking during a visit to Vietnam, Cameron told ITV News the problem had become worse in recent months because “you have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain”.

Last October, Cameron said ministers should “choose our language carefully” on immigration, after defence secretary Michael Fallon suggested some towns were being “swamped” by migrant workers.

Downing Street defended his comments, telling reporters: “It was clear that he was talking about people who are seeking a better life.

“The point he was trying to convey was the tens of thousands that have been coming across the Mediterranean and into Europe and then seeking to come across to the UK — the scale.”

But Farron said: “By blaming ’migrant swarms’ for the current crisis in Calais, David Cameron risks dehumanising some of the world’s most desperate people. We are talking about human beings here, not insects.”

“By using the Prime Minister’s language, we lose sight of how desperate someone has to be to cling to the bottom of a lorry or train for the chance of a better life.”

And acting Labour leader Harriet Harman accused Cameron of using “inflammatory language” to whip people up.

“He has got to remember he is the Prime Minister and he is representing this country and he ought to be sorting out the problems affecting this country and making diplomatic efforts to get the French to do what they need to be doing,” Ms Harman told BBC Radio 4’s World At One.“Off-the-cuff derogatory language is not good enough for a Prime Minister. Setting up an inflammatory atmosphere is not what we want. We need action to sort this out.”

The Labour leader hopeful said: “Cameron calling Calais migrants a ’swarm’ is nothing short of disgraceful.

The United Nations secretary-general’s special representative on international migration, Peter Sutherland, said Cameron’s choice of words was “most unfortunate”.

Sutherland said: “I think it is most unfortunate to create an image of hordes of people, when in reality the highest figure I have seen for the actual numbers in the so-Confirms there’s no dog-whistle these Bullingdon Boys won’t blow.”called ’jungle’ around Calais— the place where these unfortunate people are living — is 10,000.”