Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes:Time to get real about migrant security crisis

Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes: ITV News are currently reporting that French authorities seem helpless or unwilling to stop hundreds of migrants crossing the Channel every day.

Their cameras caught the launch of a large dingy from a French beach and in one chilling sequence, the reporter asks a migrant how long he's been in France: “Seven years, but five of those in prison...”

And today, it's been revealed the person responsible for the appalling bomb explosion at Liverpool Women's Hospital had been living in the city as an illegal immigrant for the past seven years.

It's been estimated that more than 20,000 people have already made the Channel crossing so far this year, adding to the 3 million-plus illegal immigrants in the UK.

This poses a huge threat to security in the country, with millions of UNDOCUMENTED migrants walking our streets.

And yet there is very little reaction or action by our government.

I suspect they are like a lot of people in the UK today, they don't want to be accused of being racist.

It's not racist to say the government's first responsibility is to the people who were born and brought in this country. They are the people who work hard and pay their taxes to pay for the many brilliant services, including the NHS and education.

The big fear is if uncontrolled immigration continues those services will be overwhelmed, not to mention the security threat posed by illegal immigrants.

Before keyboard warriors accuse me of being more to the right than Genghis Khan, I still have the memory of death threats of exposing the growing threat in the 1980/1990s of the extreme right wing on Merseyside.

We should never be afraid of saying what we think.

The UK will always help those in genuine danger because that's the sort of caring country we are. But illegal immigration is a real threat to the UK. We must not be afraid of having an open debate.