A migrant attempting to cross the English Channel to join a “gang” has revealed why Britain is regarded as a soft touch. The man — originally from Iran — claimed he wants to reach the UK because his criminal record will not be discovered and he won’t be deported back to Denmark, where he said he lived for nearly 30 years.

In response to M querying whether he would be selling drugs, the migrant said: “Drugs, fight, you know, stab, shoot.”

The man revealed he wants to go to the UK because it is “out of Europe… Schengen, Dublin, nothing”.

He continued: “So they cannot send me back to… Denmark.

“But if I want to live in Switzerland, with my family, they’re Swiss… they send me [to] Denmark because Schengen, Dublin, you know?”

M responded: “So in Denmark, you have criminal record I think?”

The brazen migrant replied: “Yeah, yeah. But England they cannot see.”

The Express investigation, which can be watched in full here, revealed the alarming speed and ease with which illegal migrants can secure a small boat crossing to England from northern France.

Despite the UK handing over £662 million to tackle the border crisis, undercover reporter M infiltrated a Kurdish smuggling gang operating a sprawling migrant camp on the outskirts of Dunkirk — and negotiated a dinghy crossing within just two hours.

Posing as a migrant trying to reach the UK, M exposed the open criminality, the illicit markets, and the shocking inaction of police on the doorstep of the English Channel.

A Home Office spokesperson said Britain is “determined to investigate and lock up vile people smugglers”.