Need for change: Nigel Farage says we face threat to civilisation

The events of Friday proved what many of us had feared for so long. We face one of the biggest threats to our way of life and our civilisation that we have ever seen.

Our approach to this issue and our behaviour needs to change right now.

I was considering going to Kenya this summer as a keen deep-sea angler but have taken the view that it is just not safe. I suspect tens of thousands of other British citizens will now be reviewing their travel plans for the summer as well.

Decisions such as this are easy. But what is more worrying is the threat which in some cases is already on our shores and, if we are not careful, will be added to by the human tide that is coming across the Mediterranean.

I have been arguing for some months in the European Parliament that the EU’s Common Asylum Policy is a terrible mistake. It sets the terms for who qualifies so broadly that it says to anyone in Africa: ‘If you come, you can stay.’

Already Northern European countries are saying no to Commission President Juncker’s idea that the burden should be shared by member states.

The numbers involved have the potential to mark an exodus from Africa of biblical proportions.

In the UK, the Government comforts us by saying we are opted-out of this scheme. But as events in Calais last week show, it is entirely possible for illegal immigrants to get to Britain. If they do, their chances of being caught are slim and if they are caught the likelihood is that they won’t be deported.

It is time to get tough and defend our borders properly. We must put in place a checking system at Dover for every car and lorry coming into the UK. The utopian dream of free movement has hit the buffers.

A second problem we face is that if Italy cannot get other countries to accept large numbers of migrants, then they have a simple way out. All they have to do is issue an EU passport to migrants and then anyone can come to the UK legally under EU rules.

I firmly believe the EU should follow the example of Australia which, in 2008, made it clear that migrants arriving by boats would not make Australia their home.

The boats stopped coming. The drownings stopped too.

This issue is far more serious than the usual debate about pressure on public services. This is now one of security.

Threat: A boy holds a Tunisian flag as he stands near bouquets of flowers laid at the beachside of the Imperiale Marhabada hotel. Farage said it was time to 'defend our borders'

Security: Police officers detain a migrant during a clash between migrants and a truck driver next of the ferry boat port of Calais, as Farage warned people getting into UK illegally represent security threat

I would pay tribute to our security services. We know over 300 jihadis who have fought for Islamic State abroad are already back in the UK. Around two dozen of those have planned attacks since returning, but have been thwarted.

I suspect one of the reasons we haven’t had another atrocity on British soil is because our security services have done such a good job.

We must ensure our security services are given the tools they need to keep us safe. But the threat comes from beyond our shores too.

Britain must bear some culpability for destabilisation abroad. It was our government who foolishly bombed Libya into oblivion. It was a terrible mistake.

Where do the people start their journeys across the Med from now? Libya, a country with a growing IS element. IS have already said that they intend to flood the continent with 500,000 jihadi fighters. Even if that only amounts to 5,000, it is still an alarming prospect.

The Greeks and Italian authorities have absolutely no means of screening the individuals who arrive via boat for links with terrorism and extremism.

When I make the argument we must get tough on border controls to ensure the safety of British citizens, I am told I’m not being compassionate. We must not let our compassion imperil our civilisation.