Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, is now delivering a statement in the House of Commons on the incident in the English Channel this morning.

She told MPs: "This is an ongoing search and rescue incident but I can confirm that at the time of making this statement tragically there have been four fatalities.

She added: "These are the days that we dread. Crossing the Channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour. It is for this reason above all that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers, evil, organised criminals who treat human beings as cargo."

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