Prime Minister David Cameron walks past a guard of honour as he arrives at Hanoi’s international airport Noi Bai yesterday.

London Evening Standard/London

David Cameron was yesterday urged to take personal charge of the Calais crisis after another migrant died when 1,500 people tried to storm the entrance of the Channel Tunnel on Tuesday night.
Home Secretary Theresa May chaired a meeting of Whitehall’s emergency Cobra committee yesterday morning after two nights of mass attempts by migrants to clamber onto lorries and freight trains in a bid to get to Britain.
MPs demanded stronger action to prevent the growing number of deaths of migrants desperately seeking a better life in the UK — and to ease the disruption causing misery to holidaymakers and costing businesses millions.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage called for the army to be deployed to strengthen border controls in the UK.
A Sudanese man, thought to be in his twenties or early thirties, was killed on Tuesday night after reportedly slipping as he tried to get underneath a train inside the high-security zone leading to the tunnel.
“He was hit by a lorry which was preparing to drive onto the train and is thought to have died instantly,” said a police source in Calais, who said hundreds of officers were involved in dealing with a second night of “massive intrusions”.
More than 2,000 migrants targeted tunnel traffic on Monday, while the number was “around 1,500” on Tuesday night, he said.
The man is believed to be the eighth migrant to die this month in attempts to reach the UK.
The prime minister, who is in Vietnam, said the situation was “very concerning” and the government was working closely with France to defuse it.
But Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said: “Cameron needs to meet François Hollande as soon as he returns. This can only be dealt with at the highest levels.”
He called for “zero tolerance” from French police to thwart attempts to illegally cross the Channel, adding: “The failure of the French authorities to take a grip of the situation is encouraging people to risk their lives.”
In a stronger condemnation of the French authorities, Folkestone and Hythe Conservative MP Damian Collins added: “The management of the crisis is contributing towards deaths.”
But French diplomats defended the actions of the police. A source at the French embassy in London said: “The French authorities are deeply committed to ensuring law and order in Calais. In the short term, additional barriers are being built as we speak around the entrance of the Channel Tunnel.
“In the longer term, France and the UK are also working together to stabilise countries from which migrants are coming.”
France and Britain are understood to have agreed to bolster co-operation to repatriate more migrants camped out in Calais or nearby, who are estimated to number around 5,000. If this happened, it would be seen as a significant change in policy by Paris.
May held talks with France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve in London on Tuesday, and Britain agreed to allocate a further £7mn to improve security at the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.
Sources suggested migrants were targeting Eurotunnel trains after the authorities had succeeded in making it harder for them to get onto cross-Channel ferries.
More than 140 migrants are understood to have reached the UK, where many will claim asylum, yesterday.
As riot police and other security staff fought running battles with those who had torn down security fencing, more migrants poured in.
“It takes hours to catch them, and a significant number get through to Britain,” said the source. Police union spokesman Gilles Debove said: “They have nothing to lose, they have travelled thousands of kilometres and they are ready to die on the last stretch if necessary.”
Referring to the vehicle trains which pass through the tunnel from Calais, Debove said: “They will try to get aboard them whatever happens.”
Delays to rail services of up to five hours were reported at the weekend, as thousands of migrants took advantage of the gridlock to try and get aboard lorries heading to the UK.
The chaos has been made worse by striking French seamen who have regularly disrupted train and ferry services in a dispute over job losses.
Hauliers have faced lengthy delays to cross the Channel, with Kent police enforcing Operation Stack, in which lorries are parked up along part of the M20 to avoid gridlock in the county.

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