Will the migrant boat disaster force the government to change its approach to Channel crossings?

Priti Patel uses sinking to push controversial news laws, but Home Office assessment finds they could result in people using ‘riskier means of entering the UK’, Lizzie Dearden reports

Anyone seeking to claim asylum in the UK must be physically present in the country, creating an imperative to reach it but no safe means to do so (AFP via Getty)

The deaths of dozens of migrants who drowned in the English Channel while trying to reach the UK must force the government to change its “cruel and ineffective” approach, campaigners say.

Wednesday’s tragedy comes amid record crossings, which have already neared 26,000 so far this year despite repeated vows by the home secretary to make the route “unviable”, with threats to arrest and jail those arriving.

Priti Patel has said she wants to save lives with plans to push migrant dinghies back to France and make it a crime for asylum seekers to reach the UK on small boats.