Tories under pressure to halt Channel crossings after six migrants die

The Government has been accused of having “blood on their hands” after six migrants died in the Channel, with Ministers under fresh pressure to crack down on small boat crossings.

59 people were rescued in the early hours of Saturday morning by British and French coastguards after an overloaded vessel carrying migrants got into difficulty near Sangatte.

Survivors claim that around 65 had originally boarded the boat, according to France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said, suggesting six did not survive.

Those rescued were mostly Afghans and some were Sudanese, according to reports.

The tragedy came days after the Channel saw the highest daily crossings number so far this year, with 755 migrants making the journey on Thursday.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the drownings as a “tragic loss of life” and confirmed she had chaired a meeting with Border Force officials.

Care4Calais said it was an “appalling and preventable tragedy”, while the Refugee Council warned “more people will die” unless more safe routes to the UK are created.

Paul O’Connor, head of bargaining at the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents Border Force officers, said the UK government has “blood on its hands” and described its approach to the Channel crisis as a “moral disgrace”

“There is a readily available policy to prevent this tragic loss of life,” he said.

“Unfortunately, our calls on the government to adopt it have fallen on stony ground. It’s clear they have no desire to prevent these dangerous crossings.

“Instead, they’re pouring taxpayers’ money down the drain on policies which are unlawful, unworkable and doomed to failure.”

He added that ministers “want to scapegoat refugees” in a bid to distract from “catastrophic failings” on people’s living standards”.

Mr O’Connor continued: “They don’t care that people die as a result. They have blood on their hands.”

The Government faced strong criticism this week after the barge it had procedured to house migrants on the Dorset coast, the Bibby Stockholm, had its 39 residents evacuated after Legionella was found in the water.

Ms Braverman has faced calls to be sacked by one senior Conservative, and also faces claims she ignored warnings that the vessel was a “huge health and safety risk”.

A Home Office source indicated all 39 asylum seekers coming off the Bibby Stockholm are now likely to be housed in hotels, despite the barge being procured to remove them from hotels.

Bibby Stockholm will be out of action for several weeks to ensure it is free of Legionella, public health sources have told i.

But Welsh Secretary David TC Davies told Times Radio on Sunday that the Government was still considering setting up further such barges to house migrants.

“It’s quite possible because we will do whatever we can to, first of all, ensure the people are safely, inadequately housed, even if they’ve come into the country illegally, but also to try and ensure best value for the taxpayer. And it’s simply unsustainable to continue paying £4 million a day in hotel bills,” he said.

Mr Davies added that ministers had “no problem in principle with hiring barges or using former military accommodation”.

“We’ll do whatever we need to do to try and reduce costs, but at all times to make sure people are safe.

“The very quick action that the government took this week to remove people because of the just the possibility that Legionnaires could spread, actually demonstrates how we’re putting the safety of people first.”

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday she would not want to see barges used to house asylum seekers “for a minute longer than is necessary”.

Labour has said it would use the temporary accommodation to house asylum seekers for a short period while the cases backlog is tackled.

Ms Phillipson told Times Radio: “If we win the next election, we will inherit a complete mess when it comes to the Home Office and the asylum and immigration system.

“I wouldn’t want to see people accommodated on barges for a minute longer than is necessary and we want to end the use of hotel accommodation too, because it’s just not right, it’s not effective and we need to process cases more quickly to tackle this backlog.”