Channel deaths: Braverman urged to quit after migrants die in crossing tragedy
Home secretary ‘has vilified the very people she now feigns sympathy with’, says PCS
A union has called for home secretary Suella Braverman to resign following the deaths of four migrants in the Channel as their boat sank.
Women and children are reportedly among survivors fighting for their lives in hospital after the dinghy capsized in the English Channel in freezing weather in the early hours. A search-and-rescue mission was launched and 43 other people on board were rescued.
Paul O’Connor, of the PCS union, said: “Suella Braverman says her heartfelt thoughts are with all those involved. Those words ring utterly hollow when she has spent her time as home secretary vilifying and demonising the very people she now feigns sympathy with. She should resign in disgrace.”
Ms Braverman told the Commons there would be new legislation to end criminal gangs, but shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said responses by ministers to people-smuggling and trafficking gangs had been too weak, calling for further action.
Roger Gale, MP for North Thanet in Kent, said: “Some of the survivors are still fighting for their lives [in hospital], and I understand that some of them are women and children.”
Read below for how our live coverage unfolded:
Britain will be closer to the EU in future, come what may
English channel rescue: Four migrants dead and 43 saved in dinghy crossing tragedy- No 10 denies Sunak has ‘blood on hands’ over Channel migrant deaths
‘It’s coming for everyone, like coronavirus’: The town sinking into poverty – and the people fighting back
‘Please help - there are children’: the desperate distress call
Migrants sent a voice note calling for help as their boat started to take on water crossing the English Channel, telling a French charity: “Please help us. There are children.”
‘Please help us.’: The desperate distress call from migrants on sinking boat
Braverman refuses to set up safe alternatives to boat crossings
Suella Braverman is refusing to set up new safe and legal routes for asylum-seekers despite the latest drownings.
Asked by several MPs why the government would not set up new routes immediately to reduce demand for Channel crossings, the home secretary said there were “several mechanisms”:
Braverman refuses safe alternatives to Channel crossings despite more drownings
Wait of an hour before French officials launched rescue, says charity
A French refugee charity says it is unclear why the French coastguard launched a rescue boat an hour after it had informed them of the distress message it had received from the sinking migrant boat.
Utopia56 said it was contacted at 2.56am by a boat in distress in the Channel, and at 2.59 the team told French rescuers and sent them the location.
The team had to wait until 3.55am before a French maritime security agency told them British rescuers were in charge of the rescue operation. “According to British coastguards, a boat was sent around 4.07am French time,” the charity said.
Nikolai Posner, of Utopia 56, said: “Just in terms of timing, from what we understand and what the coastguard are saying for now, is that, well, they were indeed informed by our team one hour before they actually sent a boat to the location.”
“We don’t know what really happened during that time.”
Sketch: Migrants are being exploited by low-grade politicians
It’s Christmas next week, which means Braverman has only got a few days left to make her “dream come true”, writes Tom Peck:
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