Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said open borders were 'inevitable'

Completely open borders allowing unfettered migration around the world are 'inevitable', shadow chancellor John McDonnell claimed today.

During an interview about the migrant crisis facing Europe, which could see more than a million people try to cross its borders this year, Mr McDonnell said the movement of people around the globe would render border controls 'irrelevant'.

The shadow chancellor, a crucial close ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said conflict, poverty and climate change would drive mass migration of people around the world.

He told the BBC Sunday Politics: 'The movement of peoples across the globe will mean that borders are almost going to become irrelevant by the end of this century, so we should be preparing for that and explain why people move.

'In our policy making, as politicians, we should be working now to see how we address that because it will mean that we need to look at how we resolve conflicts, how we make the world more equal and also how we tackle climate change.

'In that way in that way we can deal with the reality of the world which means that people aren’t forced to move but there will be movement.'

Pressed on whether he meant totally open borders, he said: 'I think at the end of this century that’s what will occur. We’re seeing people ignoring borders already as they fly from Syria.'

Mr McDonnell said borders would be 'difficult to maintain' and added: 'We should be opening up the debate of how we handle that and one of the issues that we have to tackle is why people are moving and it is about conflict, it is about climate change.'

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund warned four million migrants could reach Europe by the end of 2017.

In new forecasts, the organisation adjusted its estimates to conclude 1.3million people could move to Europe every year between 2015 - 2017.

Mr McDonnell said people fleeing the war in Syria, including people pictured near Ayvacik, Turkey, waiting for boats to Lesbos, were already ignoring borders

Thousands of people have tried to walk across Euorpe's borders, despite freezing weather in the Balkans. Pictured: Hundreds of people who last week walked across the Macedonian border into Serbia as they tried to reach Europe

It added the Middle East refugees should boost European economic growth over the short term, but their longer-term impact would depend on efforts to integrate them.

The report came as governments across Europe wrestle with the political, social and economic implications of admitting huge numbers of migrants fleeing the conflicts in Syria and elsewhere.

More than one million refugees flooded into Europe last year seeking asylum, and in many countries, the administrative apparatus for handling such a large influx is overwhelmed.

Statistics showed an estimated 31,244 migrants have braved the deadly boat crossing over the Mediterranean Sea to Greece in the first 16 days of this year.

The shocking statistic represents 21 times the number of migrants who crossed during the same period in January 2015, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

It is expected that the number of new arrivals to Greece is likely to exceed the 853,650 migrants who crossed over to Greece by sea last year.

Almost half [48 per cent] of the migrants who have made the journey are Syrian nationals, fleeing the long standing war in their homeland.