Boris Johnson has hit out at France after more than 30 people died in the English Channel when their boat capsized, as he slammed people trafficking gangs who are “literally getting away with murder”.
The prime minister said he was “shocked, appalled and deeply saddened” by the “disaster”, which “underscores how dangerous it is to cross the channel in this way”.
‘Worst-ever’ incident involving migrants in Channel – live updates
Mr Johnson, who earlier chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency COBRA committee, said the events off the coast of Calais show that people trafficking gangs will “stop at nothing” to try and get people across to the UK.
And he criticised the efforts of France to tackle the issue, claiming Paris is not doing enough.
“The operations being conducted by our friends on the beaches supported with £54m by the UK to help patrol the beaches, all the technical support we have given, they’re not enough,” the PM asserted.
Why do people risk their lives to cross the Channel into the UK?
“Our offer is to increase our support but also to work together with our partners on the beaches concerned, on the launch grounds for these boats and that’s something I hope will be acceptable now in view of what has happened.
“There is no doubt the gangsters concerned, unless they are shown their business model won’t work, they can’t simply get people over the channel from France to the UK, they will continue to see people put people’s lives at risk and get away with murder.”
The issue of migrant crossings has been the source of tension between Paris and London in recent months.
Mr Johnson said his message to France was that “now is the time for us all to step up to work together to do everything we can to break these…
Source : skynews
