Stamp out evil trade that led to sea horror

TRAGICALLY, it was bound to happen.

For years this paper has warned that the constant stream of migrants allowed to take to the Channel in flimsy boats would lead to catastrophe.

Now at least 31 – including a little girl – have perished after one of these overcrowded craft capsized in freezing seas a mile from the French coast.

Every single death was avoidable. They should weigh on the conscience of the British and French authorities who have failed miserably to break this evil trade.

Boris Johnson is right to accuse France of letting people-smuggling gangs ‘get away with murder’. Britain has handed Paris hundreds of millions to crack down on the racket. Yet French police still stand idly by as this vulnerable human cargo sets sail.

To smash the vile business, ministers have offered to send UK law enforcement officers to patrol beaches around Calais and suggested turning back boats.

But by greeting each proposal to tackle the traffickers with an indifferent ‘non’, Emmanuel Macron encourages the criminal gangs. The president is guilty of ensuring the Channel becomes a cemetery.

Some 26,000 migrants have made the perilous trip to British beaches so far this year, rather than seek sanctuary in the first safe place they reach.

They know work, housing and benefits are easier to obtain. Despite the selfflagellation of the liberal-left, we are less racist than perhaps any other country. And the prospect of deportation is negligible.

Labour wails at any attempt to tackle the problem, such as processing asylum claims offshore. Instead of wavering, the Government should use its huge majority to just ram through deterrent measures.

Nothing will bring back the dead. But their legacy should be a new determination – on both sides of the Channel – to stamp out the smugglers for good.