Another body found on beach as three children among Channel deaths

Published

3 years ago

November 25, 2021

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The 27 people who died yesterday while attempting to cross the Channel to the UK from France included 17 men, seven women and two teenage boys and a girl, French prosecutors have said.

It comes as a picture of the flimsy boat used by the group has been seen by Sky News.

Following the deadliest day of the current migrant crisis, French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin attacked the UK’s migration approach, saying that Britain had handled the crisis badly.

He also said other countries such as Belgium and Germany could do more to help France tackle illegal migrants and human trafficking issues.

Pregnant woman among the dead amid fears smugglers will continue trafficking in the coming weeks – live updates

French President Emmanuel Macron called for “stronger” European co-operation to deal with the crisis and said French security forces are mobilised “day and night” to try and prevent people from crossing the Channel, but added that by the time migrants are on the coastline it is “already too late”.

In an interview with French radio station RTL, Mr Darmanin said migrants are “often attracted” to the UK’s job market and described the sinking of a migrant boat as an “absolute tragedy” – blaming human trafficking gangs who promise people the “El Dorado of England” for large sums of money.

He did not have further information about the circumstances of the boat’s capsizing, or the victims’ nationalities, but said the two survivors were Somali and Iraqi and had been treated for severe hypothermia.

Mr Darmanin also said a fifth suspected people trafficker was arrested overnight and the boat used to cross the Channel was purchased in Germany and had a German vehicle registration.

“Those responsible for the tragedy which took place yesterday in the Channel are the smugglers, who for a few thousand euros promise Eldorado in England. The smugglers are criminals, this tragedy reminds us, painfully,” he said.

“It’s an international problem… We tell our Belgian, German and British friends they should help us fight traffickers that work at an international level,” Mr Darmanin added.

Five women, including one who was pregnant, and a girl were among the victims after their boat capsized in the water on Wednesday, with fishermen reporting more than a dozen bodies motionless in the sea.

Two people were rescued and four suspected people-smugglers arrested shortly afterwards.

The boat which sank was very flimsy, with Mr Darmanin likening it to “a pool you blow up in your garden”.

An image of the boat given to Sky News was taken by a lifeboat captain.

Around 60 migrants – some of them in life jackets – were transferred on to buses at Calais’ main train station on Thursday morning.

“Have these deaths changed your mind about getting to Britain?” Sky’s Europe correspondent Adam Parsons asked one man as he passed. “No, no,” he replied.

Parsons said: “Even in the wake of that appalling tragedy yesterday there is still an appetite for people to try to get from here in mainland France, over to the shores of the UK… and when you ask them why, they tell you that if they go through the official lines they don’t have any confidence that they will ever get the opportunity to reach the UK. They think they have no choice but to use people smugglers.”

Most of those attempting to cross the Channel on small boats have been helped by organised networks of people smugglers.

Sky News spoke to one in northern Iraq who said he has packed flimsy boats with dozens of people trying to reach Britain – aware that some of them won’t survive the journey.

Franck Dhersin, the vice president of transport for the northern Hauts-de-France region, told French TV station BFMTV that heads of human trafficking networks who live comfortable lives in the UK must be arrested.

“In France what do we do? We arrest the smugglers…To fight them, there’s only one way – we need to stop the organisations, you need to arrest the mafia chiefs,” he said.

“And the mafia chiefs live in London… They live in London peacefully, in beautiful villas, they earn hundreds of millions of euros every year, and they reinvest that money in the City. And so it’s very easy for the tax authorities to find them.”

An image of two-year-old Alan Kurdi, face down on the shoreline and alone, who died in the Mediterranean while fleeing war in Syria in 2015, shocked the world and raised awareness of the plight of desperate individuals and families fleeing conflict and poverty.

But in the six years since his death, the route to mainland Europe and the UK is as dangerous as it was then.

Asked if the latest tragedy could be a turning point, Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty UK, told Sky News he had “little confidence” it would be.

He pointed to the deaths of 39 migrants, aged between 15 and 44, whose bodies were discovered in a lorry container in Essex in 2019 and said it is not the journey in itself that is the issue – but the needs of the people on it.

Policing illegal routes into the UK is not sufficient on its own to stop people smuggling, he said. “Smugglers will continue to find new routes.”

He added that this approach often “pushes people to do more and more dangerous things to find the safety they need”.

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French politician Bruno Bonnell said there are many reasons people are attracted to the UK.

“First the language, a lot of people have a basic understanding of English and they find it more comfortable finding a job there,” he told Sky News.

“Plus they have heard from sources that the conditions are better,” added the La Republique En Marche MP for Rhone.

Those who claim asylum in the UK are not normally allowed to work whilst their claim is being considered. They are instead provided with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs.

The Home Office may grant permission to work to asylum seekers whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own. Under this policy, those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the shortage occupation list published by the department – which includes health services and the fields of science and engineering.

The Dover Strait is the world’s busiest shipping lane and more than 25,700 people have completed the dangerous journey to the UK this year.

That’s three times the total for 2020, according to data compiled by PA news agency.

The numbers have prompted some critics to blame Brexit while those in support of leaving the EU have questioned whether the UK has taken back its borders.

In a statement to MPs, Home Secretary Priti Patel said what happened on Wednesday was a “dreadful shock” but “not a surprise”, adding there was “no quick fix” to what she described as a “complicated issue”.

“This is about addressing long-term pull factors, smashing the criminal gangs that treat human beings as cargo and tackling supply chains,” she said.

More than 20,000 migrants have been stopped this year, 17 organised criminal groups dismantled and around 400 arrests and 65 convictions secured.

“It does need a Herculean effort and it will be impossible without close co-operation between all international partners and agencies,” she said.

She said it was a “complete myth and fallacy” to suggest the UK should not look at all options, including stopping boats entering territorial waters.

“We are not working to end these crossings because we don’t care or are heartless,” she said, adding that the UK has a “clear, generous and a humane approach” to dealing with the issue.

In August, she promised to make the route across the Channel “unviable”, but the number of people crossing in small boats has reached record highs.

The issue has become an increasingly tense subject for the UK and France, and each side has been blaming the other.

The government has accused the French of not stepping up patrols enough, despite giving them millions in extra funding to deal with the problem.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to Mr Macron last night and Downing Street said they had agreed to “keep all options on the table”.

Mr Johnson offered to host and to help with joint patrols, while Mr Macron has called for an emergency meeting of European ministers and an “immediate strengthening” of Frontex, the EU’s border agency.

Politics

Reform UK’s Andrea Jenkyns says Nigel Farage’s row with Rupert Lowe was ‘clearly a big falling out’ – but insists it will ‘blow over’

Published

1 hour ago

March 14, 2025

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Reform UK's Andrea Jenkyns says Nigel Farage's row with Rupert Lowe was 'clearly a big falling out' - but insists it will 'blow over'

Reform UK’s most senior woman has told Sky News the Rupert Lowe row “doesn’t look great” and she doesn’t “want to see it in the news any more days”.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who defected to Reform last year, accepted it was “clearly a big falling out” but suggested these spats do not always cut through to the public.

She insisted she was concentrating on winning as she looks to become the party’s first ever mayor in May.

In an interview with Sky News, Dame Andrea also spoke for the first time about her experience of domestic abuse, denying Reform has a “woman problem” but accepted “we need to start talking more about issues, what women are interested in”.

Having lost her seat as a Conservative in the 2024 election, Dame Andrea briefly quit politics only to return earlier this year as Reform’s newest recruit.

She is now standing as the party’s candidate to become the first Greater Lincolnshire mayor, in a race that psephologists think could be Reform’s best hope of turning itself from a party of protest into one that is governing.

That’s because Reform is on the march in Lincolnshire, which is a key battleground between the Conservatives and Reform in the local and mayoral elections in May.

Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, took the Conservative seat of Boston and Skegness in the last election as Reform came second in a further two of the county’s eight constituencies.

This farming country has long been part of the patchwork of Conservative England and it is in these heartlands that Reform hopes it can land a significant blow to its political rivals in the coming weeks.

“It’s a worry,” admits one Labour insider who doesn’t much relish the prospect of having to deal with a newly minted Reform party mayor should Dame Andrea win in May against Labour candidate Jason Stockwood, the Conservative Rob Waltham and independent Marianne Overton.

There is also the Lincolnshire council race, which Reform is targeting. All 70 seats are up for grabs and the Conservatives, which have a 38-seat majority, are defending 53 seats. The only way is up for Reform here, while the Conservatives, who have held this council for 10 of the past 13 elections, are bracing for a drubbing.

Tories say Jenkyns is from Yorkshire

The Conservatives make the point that they have a “strong local candidate who is born and bred in Lincolnshire, whereas Dame Andrea is from Yorkshire” when I ask them about the race.

“We are fighting hard, we have a proven track record of delivery in charge of local services whereas Reform aren’t tried and tested,” the Conservatives said.

“And if they’re anything like Reform nationally, who don’t turn up on important votes, then they won’t show up for people locally.”

Dame Andrea is still based in Yorkshire where she used to be an MP, as this is where her son attends school. But she rents a place in Lincolnshire and has vowed to move to the county should she win the mayoralty.

She also points out that she grew up in Lincolnshire and was a local councillor before moving to Yorkshire after her shock victory over Ed Balls in the 2015 general election.

‘Fed up’ farmers eyeing Reform

When we meet her on the road in Lincolnshire, she takes us to meet some farmers whose livelihoods are under intense pressure – be it over local flooding and flood defences or changes to inheritance tax and farming subsidies that are affecting their farms.

There is little love for Labour in the gathering of farmers, who in the main seem to be lapsed Conservative voters that are now eyeing Reform, as a number of them tell me how they are fed up with how the Environment Agency and local politicians are running their area.

“We’re fed up with all of them,” said one farmer.

“We just want some action. As farmers we know drainage is so important, we just want to get it sorted.”

They are also alarmed and anxious about the inheritance tax changes introduced by Labour and are pressing for carve-outs for small farms handed down from generation to generation amid fears they will have to sell up to pay the inheritance tax bills.

But the troubles at the top of Reform hadn’t gone unnoticed by this group. Unprompted, one of the farmers raised the row between the suspended Reform MP Rupert Lowe and the party leadership, telling Dame Andrea that while he “really likes Reform” he doesn’t much like what he’s seeing at the moment.

‘Spat looks worse because Reform is small’

The farmer said: “I don’t follow politics avidly. But I just look and say [Rupert Lowe] is full of common sense and I really like him and I don’t know what’s happened, but it looks from outside [he has been] chucked under the bus.

“And I’m like, am I getting second thoughts about Reform? I don’t know what’s gone on, but it concerns me about what’s going on with Reform.”

Dame Andrea tries to downplay it and says the “spat” looks worse because it’s a smaller party.

“To me it’s about the movement, the right policies, to carry on. What is the alternative? This will blow over and Reform will keep getting strong,” she said.

Can Jenkyns and Farage co-exist?

Dame Andrea would clearly like the infighting to stop, but it raises questions for me about how she will fit into this very male-dominated party, in which all four MPs are male, with Dame Andrea the only senior woman beyond the former Conservative minister Ann Widdicombe.

She is, like Nigel Farage, a disrupter – Dame Andrea was one of the first Tories to call for Theresa May and Rishi Sunak to stand down, and a conviction politician who fervently backed Boris Johnson and Brexit.

If she does win this mayoral race she will be a big personality in Reform alongside Farage, which leaves me wondering if they can co-exist in a party already at war.

Jenkyns was in an abusive relationship

Reform does struggle with female voters, with fewer women voting for the party against all age cohorts, young to old. Dame Andrea tells me she doesn’t think the party has a “woman problem”, but she does think it needs to talk about more issues that she thinks women are interested in, citing education, special educational needs and mental health.

When I raise the matter of violence against women and how the party has handled revelations that one of its own MPs was jailed in a youth detention centre as a teenager for assaulting his girlfriend, Dame Andrea reveals to me she has been in an abusive relationship.

“I know how it can break you. I know how you sort of start losing your identity. So I’ve been on that side,” she said.

“And I’ve also helped constituents to fight against this, so it matters, we need to do more in society because whether it’s men or women, one is too much in my view.”

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Out on the campaign trail, even in the Labour territory of Lincoln where Hamish Falconer is the local MP, Dame Andrea gets a warm welcome. She tells me she thinks she can win it: “I might be living in blind hope here. But I’ve got that feeling.”

This corner of England has become a test bed for Reform to see if it can turn from a party of protest into one that has a shot at governing in the form of a regional mayor.

If Reform can succeed in that – what might come next? It would be a remarkable comeback for Dame Andrea and a remarkable victory for Reform too.

Politics

Labour MPs and officials briefing against work and pensions secretary should ‘shut up’, Baroness Harman says

Published

1 hour ago

March 14, 2025

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Labour MPs and officials briefing against work and pensions secretary should 'shut up', Baroness Harman says

Labour MPs and officials briefing against work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall should “shut up”, Harriet Harman has said.

The Labour peer told Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast Labour needed to “pull together” rather than descend into infighting.

Ms Kendall said on Thursday she was “determined to fix the broken benefits system” ahead of announcing “radical welfare reforms” next week.

Ministers have been priming Labour MPs and the public for cuts to a ballooning welfare bill since the start of the year.

Asked what she thought of briefings against Ms Kendall as welfare cuts loom, Baroness Harman said: “I hate those sorts of briefings.

“I don’t think anybody should be briefing against Labour ministers who are trying to implement the manifesto.

“You know, she is incredibly competent and leads a really dedicated team. So I think they should just shut up and pull together.”

More and more Labour MPs have publicly criticised the impending benefit cuts, with many concerned they will hit people with disabilities the most.

Downing Street has taken the unusual step of calling all 404 Labour MPs into Number 10 over Wednesday and Thursday for briefings on the changes ahead of the details being released next week.

Baroness Harman said she thinks Ms Kendall is a “rising star” and is “absolutely certain” the PM and chancellor will stand behind her.

The peer was social security secretary – the equivalent of Ms Kendall’s job now – at the start of Tony Blair’s first term after Labour’s 1997 landslide win.

She was forced to defend benefit cuts just after they came to power and said there are “lots of parallels between what we were trying to do then, and what the government is trying to do now”.

However, she said the difference is, in 1997 she was making the argument for welfare cuts to help single parents into work by herself, but Ms Kendall is being backed by Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer.

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Politics

Is Keir Starmer bringing back austerity?

Published

1 hour ago

March 14, 2025

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Is Keir Starmer bringing back austerity?

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

Sir Keir Starmer is doubling down on his bid to reduce government waste, but is his plan a fix or just more spending spin? Beth is in Hull after hearing what the Labour leader is promising, including scrapping NHS England to “cut bureaucracy” and bringing management of the health service “back into democratic control”.

Alongside Harriet and Ruth, they also discuss Starmer potentially facing down a rebellion from his own MPs over plans to shake up benefits reform and welfare payments.

The cracks are widening for Reform UK’s internal spat. Beth speaks to Andrea Jenkyns, who left the Tories to join Reform, on the party’s latest bust-up, and Ruth and Harriet look at whether the party’s chaos is helping both Labour and the Conservatives.

Email us at electoraldysfunction@sky.uk, post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.

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