We all want to stop these dangerous Channel crossings. 

The Conservatives allowed the human trafficking gangs responsible for these crossings to operate with virtual impunity. They erected barriers to international cooperation that made it harder to crack down on cross-border people smuggling. And their inability to efficiently process asylum claims meant those without a genuine right to stay were not being swiftly returned.

Cracking down on the criminal trafficking gangs responsible is crucial. I want to ramp up domestic enforcement against these gangs - including by establishing a new single enforcement body to crack down on modern slavery in the UK, which is how these gangs make their money.

We are also committed to working closely with Europol and the French authorities to stop the gangs. This is the single step that I think will do the most to tackle the crisis. This is because it would create a deterrence if these people know they will arrive back on the same beach they departed from. To do this we must work with France and show them it is their interest. This was something that was possible, albeit in a slow, limited and bureaucratic way before we left the EU through the Dublin II protocols. This is why this crisis of illegal immigration did not take the form of the small boats we see today.

At the same time, we need proper deterrents in place to discourage those who aren’t genuine refugees from coming. Liberal Democrats believe the best way to do that is by having an efficient asylum system that makes decisions quickly and swiftly returns those without a right to stay. We will keep pushing to ensure the government is taking the right steps to tackle the asylum backlog and make these decisions quickly and fairly.