Today the Home Office announced that it will fund a further 300 National Crime Agency (NCA) officers. They will tackle the people smugglers who run the business of the English Channel crossings.

There will be new technology and equipment, alongside an allocation of £100m from the Home Offices budget.

My Take:

The way the people smugglers gain their business is through the lack of legal routes for those seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. Bring in legal routes and strengthen the cooperation with the French and that will destroy the business of small boats coming across the channel.

Legal routes are a better control of those coming in than what we have now. It’s a better way than a third country sorting and holding those. Tell people at the source whether they can come or not. 26 miles or so away is not that much when they’ve travelled vast amount of miles and across countries. The need is that great they will do what they need to do, and they will pay the criminals.

Just like every country around the world, we have a legal obligation to those seeking asylum. It’s not just that, it’s within our morals – think back to World War 2 or think back to all of those people have been allies in countries where our interests aren’t looked upon greatly. We should stick by those who are in need of help and are fleeing different circumstances.

Let’s also think beyond that. We are all a product of immigration. People might not see it in their immediate family history, but the majority of the country are products of immigration somewhere in their history.

Yes we need to make sure that those who are coming over here are safe and follow the laws, that’s why legal routes are so vital. But we also need to emphasis the benefits that they bring. The jobs that we need filling and the ability for our economy to grow. Politicians need to talk more about the benefits of immigration, not just always put it down.