Labour bid to ‘smash the gangs’ could add to death risk for Channel migrants

Government hoping' it will not have to create safe and legal route or change asylum law, says Home Office source

Deaths in the English Channel are expected to rise to devastating" new highs over the coming months, with charities and experts warning that Labour's action against smugglers could trigger increasingly dangerous methods to launch boats.

A record of 43 people have died attempting to cross the Channel this year, 35 of them at sea, with six children and a pregnant woman among 12 people who drowned in a disaster on Tuesday.