On the 24th November last year, 31 people slowly froze to death in the Channel whilst British and French authorities argued over whose responsibility it was to save them. This week, I joined their loved ones in writing to Rishi Sunak to call for the solutions to stop people being forced to make these dangerous journeys.  

At a Select Committee appearance this week, the Home Secretary was asked how a teenage orphan from a warzone could seek asylum alongside family members living in the UK. She was unable to answer this question, because the Government has closed off safe routes for children in most of the world. As well as safe routes and answers over the deaths of those who lost their lives last year, we need an end to poisonous rhetoric describing people as “illegal” or “invasions”, a timeline for publishing the inquiry into these deaths and quicker processing times for asylum applications.