Summary of key events
Thanks for following the live updates. The blog will be closing shortly, so below is a summary of the main news of the day after at least four people died trying to cross the English Channel.
At least four people have died and 43 people have been rescued after trying to cross the Channel in freezing conditions overnight. A UK government spokesperson said at 3am authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a small boat in distress.
The home secretary Suella Braverman expressed her “profound sadness” and called the incident a “sobering reminder” of why the government has to end these crossings. She said: “People do not need to seek asylum if they are already in a safe country, it is vital, literally vital, that we end the illegal crossings in the Channel.”
In the House of Commons on Wednesday, prime minister Rishi Sunak expressed sorrow at the tragic loss of human life. Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “Our prayers go out to those who capsized in the freezing waters of the Channel last night.”
The major search and rescue operation remains under way off the coast of Kent and comes a day after Rishi Sunak told MPs he would clear the asylum backlog by the end of 2023. In the Commons on Tuesday, Sunak outlined a set of policies including law changes to criminalise and then remove tens of thousands of people who claim asylum after travelling to the UK in small boats, and a deal with Albania to aid removals to the Balkan state.
The problem of small boat Channel crossings won’t be solved unless a pan-European agreement and approach is taken, said Conservative MP Roger Gale. Gale said nearly 50 people tried to cross the Channel from Calais and were blown off course heading for Dungeness by the time they were finally intercepted. Women and children were among those taken to the hospital, he added.
The majority of people coming across the Channel are people who are “fleeing war, and violence and bloodshed”, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, said. “Unless we see this as an issue which is driven by the fact that there is violence and bloodshed and persecution across the world, we won’t be able to deal with it.”
The MP for Kent, Natalie Elphicke, urged prime minister Rishi Sunak to meet with the French president to take action and “bring this to an end”. Elphicke told Sky News: “It is a matter of great urgency that the boats are stopped entering the water from France, people are safe in France.”
The founder of the refugee charity Care4Calais, Clare Moseley, said: “There are no words to express our horror and grief at today’s tragedy. A full year on from 32 people losing their lives in the Channel, our government has done nothing to prevent further deaths and so has failed both the refugees who need our help and our country.”
Independent maritime expert Matthew Schanck, who conducted research into the drowning in the Channel last year when at least 27 people lost their lives, said: “I’m just in shock. We said this would happen again and sadly it has.”
Updated
Suella Braverman has insisted that the government will “end these crossings” after confirming that four people had died after their small boat capsized in the Channel.
The home secretary said she would set up “safe and legal routes” for asylum seekers only after dealing with the small boats crisis, amid demands from MPs for new pathways to apply for refugee status.
Braverman addressed the House of Commons hours after a damaged vessel was rescued off the Kent coast carrying dozens of people who had set sail from France for the UK.
To a sombre chamber, she said: “These are the days we dread. Crossing the channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour.
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