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Four people have died after a boat carrying migrants got into trouble after attempting to launch from a beach south of Calais, according to reports in France.
The incident happened near Wimereux in the early hours of Sunday morning. French paper La Voix du Nord said 72 people, including 10 children, were rescued and taken to Calais while one person was taken to hospital in Boulogne.
The paper said the migrants got into difficulty while trying to board the boat in darkness and cold temperatures.
The latest tragedy came the day after former home secretary Suella Braverman took another shot at Rishi Sunak, accusing the prime minister of relying on “bad weather” to stop small boat crossings.
Ms Braverman lashed out at the PM after Britain saw the first arrivals cross the channel this year on Saturday.
The country had seen zero arrivals in 26 days, which was the longest period of no small boat crossings since 2020.
The UK saw its first small boat crossing of the year this weekend (file photo)
(Getty Images)
But, as the poor weather eased, around 50 people were reportedly brought ashore from the channel by the UK Border Force.
The first crossings of 2024 come as the row over the government’s troubled Rwanda plan continues to cause schisms in the Conservative party.
Mr Sunak is braced for a Commons showdown over the plan after being warned by Tory MPs that the proposal will not work unless it is significantly beefed up.
As the right wing of the party gears up for a parliamentary battle, the prime minister was warned by former immigration minister Robert Jenrick that the plan “simply doesn’t work” in its current form.
Rishi Sunak is facing a showdown over the Rwanda plan he claims will tackle the small boats crisis
(AFP via Getty Images)
Dozens of right-wing Conservatives are backing amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill aimed at effectively ignoring international law and to severely limit individual migrants’ ability to resist being put on a flight to Kigali.
Mr Jenrick refused to say whether he would vote for the legislation if it is not rewritten.
“This is the third piece of legislation in three years, it’s three strikes or you’re out, we’ve got to get this right,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today earlier this week.