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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

Channel tragedy shows hardline policies will not deter those desperate to reach UK

Suella Braverman Channel ​​Rishi Sunak Priti Patel Boris Johnson
Police forensics officers at the Port of Dover on Wednesday after a small boat capsized in the Channel.
Police forensics officers at the Port of Dover on Wednesday after a small boat capsized in the Channel. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

After the screeching rhetoric of Tuesday afternoon – when Conservative MPs cheered Rishi Sunak’s plans to deport “illegals” who arrive in the UK without any formal hearing – on Wednesday came the gut-wrenching reality.

Four people died risking everything to reach the UK from France. Grainy footage obtained by Sky News showed more than 40 desperate people, illuminated by a helicopter’s beam, struggling to clamber out of a twisted black dinghy on to a boat in freezing temperatures.

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