
Britain lacks the capacity for Rishi Sunak's plan to detain every migrant crossing the Channel by dinghy, the chief inspector of prisons warned today.
Charlie Taylor said the government would have to dramatically increase its accommodation capacity for the plan to work as most centers are already overcrowded.
The prime minister has promised new legislation, expected next month, which will allow anyone crossing the Channel to be held pending removal to their country of origin or deportation to a third world country such as Rwanda.
However Taylor warned that a lack of space in immigration removal centers meant the initiative could be doomed to failure.
He rejected the idea that migrants could be held in prisons instead, given that some prisoners are already being held in cells inside police stations because of the prison situation.