Cockle picker warnings “ignored”
The Home Office was aware eight months ago that illegal workers were being forced to pick cockles in the notoriously dangerous waters around Morecambe Bay, an MP has revealed.
Last Thursday, 19 Chinese cockle pickers drowned at Morecambe Bay after they were left stranded by the incoming tide.
The Home Office blamed “resource issues” for the failure to crack down on the ringleaders.
Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Geraldine Smith sent a letter to the Home Office in June last year warning about cocklers working on Pilling Sands.
In reply, Home Office minister Fiona MacTaggart said there was “little useful purpose” in sending immigration officials to help police.
But the local MP said constituent Margaret Owen had told her: “Unable to speak English and under the control of a gang master, these people were being paid one fifth of the standard rate for their work.
“They were also being transported 20 to a boat in waters renowned for their currents and quicksand, where an experienced local fisherman would not consider carrying more than six.”
David Davis, the Tory home affairs spokesman, said Ms Smith’s letter was an “extraordinary revelation” and called on Home Secretary David Blunkett to make a statement to the Commons regarding the issue.
Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes told the BBC last night: “You cannot in any war – and this is a war against organised crime – always prevent every single tragedy when there are people out there determined to exploit other people for profit.”
