Image source, Parliament.tv

Responding to Thomas-Symonds, Home Secretary Priti Patel says there is a need to "intensify" co-operation with France, including on sharing of intelligence.

"In fact, our own laws prevent some of that from happening, and we are looking at ways we can bolster that and strengthen that."

She also says that she has renewed the UK's offer to France to strike a returns agreement to replace the EU-wide Dublin regulation, which the UK left after Brexit.

Read more here about who rescues migrants in the channel, and whether the boats can be turned back.

Nick Thomas-Symonds asks the government to revisit its decision to cut the international aid budget and lead on the international stage to help those fleeing from persecution around the world.

He ends his statement by saying: "Yesterday's terrible tragedy must be a moment of change. The time for urgent action to save lives is now."

Nick Thomas-Symonds says he has "raised on a number of occasions before the arrangements we have in place with the French authorities".

He asks how many days a week the full existing surveillance capacity is currently operating, and what the home secretary will be doing urgently to increase it.

He asks about "properly managed, safe and legal routes", saying the Dubs scheme - which was launched in the UK to help unaccompanied refugee children in Europe come to live here safely - closed down after helping 480 unaccompanied children rather than the 3,000 it was expected to help. He asks if this scheme will be urgently reinstated.

He says Labour will not support the government's nationality and borders bill which "breaches the refugees convention and damages our standing around the world".

Image source, UK Parliament

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds is now responding to Priti Patel's statement.

He says yesterday's tragedy was a "sobering moment for our country, for France and the international community".

He thanks all those involved in the joint French and British rescue operation.

The Labour MP says he understands there have been arrests and asks for timeframes for the legal case and assurance that Britain will give full co-operation to the prosecution of this tragic case and all future cases.

He wants to know what Patel will do to deepen law enforcement not only by strengthening coastal patrols but also by disrupting the routes used by people smugglers.

Finishing her statement, Patel says the UK government's new borders bill will address the "underlying pull factors" that cause people to make the journey to the UK in small boats.

She says she has "already approved" new Border Force tactics, "including boat turnarounds".

She adds that the crisis shows the needs for international co-operation.

She repeats that she considers the Channel crossings "unnecessary", "illegal" and "desperately unsafe".

Critics of such claims say there are no "legal" routes to the UK open to refugees and other migrants.

Image source, Parliment.tv

Continuing, Patel says yesterday's events were not a surprise - but adds that the journey was "unnecessary", and "nobody needs to leave France" to be safe.

She reiterates that people should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

She says there is a need to stop the "terrible trade" of people smuggling, but warns there is "no quick fix" when it comes to preventing crossings.

Beginning her Commons statement, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel says "at least" 27 people have died as a result of the "tragic drownings" in the English Channel yesterday.

She says she has again offered joint patrols with France during a conversation with her French counterpart.

She says this includes putting "more officers on the ground".

We're turning our attention to the House of Commons now where the Home Secretary Priti Patel is about to make a statement about the migrant deaths in the Channel.

Stay with us for updates.

Image source, Getty Images

The number of migrants reaching the UK from France varies from month to month, but this November saw - for the first time - more than 1,000 people arrive in a single day.

More than 25,000 people have crossed the English Channel so far this year - but it's important to consider that figure as part of a bigger picture.

In 2019, some 45,000 people sought asylum in the UK. So, the dinghies are only part of the total.

The UK receives about a third of the asylum applications of France - and just 1% of the 4,000,000 received by Turkey.

If migrants successfully cross from Calais to Dover - a distance of little more than 20 miles - they are usually taken to short-term holding centres.

Once in the UK they are subject to the protection of British law and they will have their refugee status checked. If they receive refugee status, they can stay.

Read more on this story here.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The UK government clearly wants, in the aftermath of this tragedy, to press France to allow UK personnel more latitude to operate in French waters and on French soil to stop the boats crossing.

Last night Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “offering to work... on the beaches concerned, on the launching grounds for these boats".

This morning it was the immigration minister Kevin Foster saying “we are prepared to offer resources... people to go and help on the ground".

Today, sources are indicating this was a clear offer of “boots on the ground”, saying “we want to hear from the French” on this.

These are things the UK has pressed before. However, the French side have rejected the offers before.

UK ministers point to the fact there is already cooperation. But that is in the form of passport control officers deployed in railway stations on either side of the Channel Tunnel rail link. And there is also police and border coordination, but on a small scale.

If the idea is to have UK officers patrolling French beaches that’s a very different issue.

How any UK personnel could work legally, practically and politically in France is all unclear. The French side have not been willing to agree to it, believing it would infringe on their national sovereignty.

And the UK has also suggested again, as in the past, having joint patrols in the Channel.

Once again, the French side have not shown an interest in doing this either.

Some of the victims of the drowning are thought to be Kurdish.

The prime minister of the Kurdish region of Iraq, Masrour Barzani, says his administration is working with the French to try to establish their identities.

More people have continued to cross the English Channel this morning from France to the UK, despite the worsening weather and yesterday's deaths.

Earlier, around 40 migrants were brought to Dover by the lifeboat charity the RNLI.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Earlier, Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay told the House of Commons that 20,000 Channel crossings were stopped so far this year - how is this done?

The UK sends Border Force ships out to spot small boats - but there is little they can do other than rescue people in danger.

The government has pledged to give France €62.7m (£54m) during 2021-22 to help increase police patrols, boost aerial surveillance and strengthen security at ports.

Earlier this week, France announced an extra €11m (£9.3m) worth of equipment and 100 vehicles to tackle smuggling along the coast.

That kit includes beach-ready quad bikes and zodiac boats, very fast small vessels favoured by the military. Teams have also been given more night-vision equipment to help identify people hiding in sand dunes.

France insists it's doing all it can to stop crossings. Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the French authorities stopped 671 migrants on Wednesday alone.

Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont told the BBC it wasn't realistic to think police officers could patrol 200-300km [125-186 miles] of coastline 24 hours a day, given "it only takes five to 10 minutes to take a boat and fill it with migrants".

A short while ago, members of the European Parliament held a minute's silence for the victims of yesterday's accident.

The latest information from French authorities is that 27 people lost their lives.

You can watch a clip of the tribute below.

Image source, EPA

French President Emmanuel Macron says stronger co-operation is needed between European countries to tackle human trafficking.

"France is a transit country," Macron tells reporters in Zagreb during his visit to Croatia.

Five people have been arrested in France accused of involvement in yesterday's tragedy.

Despite the drownings, there have been further attempts to make the crossing today.

"I will also say very clearly that our security forces are mobilised day and night," Macron adds.

The UK immigration minister, Kevin Foster, has said it is an issue for all of Europe to deal with, and that London is prepared to offer more resources and personnel to France.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK's former home secretary, David Blunkett, tells the BBC that people traffickers in France have turned to boats to transport people across the Channel after measures were put in place to block other routes.

"Security was stepped up with trucks, trains and ships," he says.

"We've closed down one route and those numbers have dropped, but they've gone up on this new route, which the organised criminals have persuaded people to use."

Blunkett says migrant camps set up by the French state existed during his time in office between 2001 and 2004. He says an agreement was made between the UK and France's former interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy "to close the camps and distribute people fairly".

He adds that unfortunately there is "no silver bullet... there is no one clever thing to do".

"Unless we persuade the French that it's in their interests to do something, nothing is going to happen."

Much of the debate around how to solve the issue of migrant crossings takes place among politicians, but what do those who have spent time on the front line of the crisis make of yesterday's accident?

Brendan Woodhouse is a firefighter from Matlock, Derbyshire, who has volunteered with several refugee organisations around Europe.

He tells BBC Radio Derbyshire the news gave him flashbacks to his experiences.

Image source, Parliament TV

A UK government minister has claimed "progress has been made" in stopping people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, despite yesterday's tragedy.

Steve Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister, tells MPs in the House of Commons that 20,000 crossings have been stopped in 2021 but the UK will continue to work with the French to avert further tragedies.

Conservative MP Philip Hollobone asks Barclay to persuade Whitehall officials to "come up with constructive solutions" rather than "coming up with reasons why something can't be done".

Barclay replies he is "deeply saddened" by yesterday's "terrible tragedy".

He says the challenge of small boats must be tackled across the whole of government by looking at all "aspects of that journey - both upstream, our processing, our legal framework".

France spreads responsibility for tackling smugglerspublished at 11:19 Greenwich Mean Time 25 November 2021

11:19 GMT 25 November 2021

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has tried to throw the ball back into the UK’s court this morning following the tragic deaths.

The UK government has accused France of not doing enough to stop the boats - arranged by people traffickers in France - leaving French shores, but Darmanin has responded by criticising the UK immigration system.

He says France expels four times more illegal arrivals (found to have no claim to asylum) per year than the UK. He also says the UK labour market is perceived as easy to access by migrants without legal papers.

France is trying to spread responsibility for combatting the people-smuggling trade. Darmanin says it is an international problem and President Emmanuel Macron has called on the EU to help better control its borders.

Macron agreed last night with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that they would definitely need the help of coastal neighbours Belgium and the Netherlands in preventing the people smugglers.

A long, inflatable boat carrying 34 people set off from the northern coast of France near Calais yesterday afternoon.

Shortly afterwards, a fishing vessel spotted several people in the sea and sounded the alarm.

When rescuers later found the boat the migrants were using, it was mostly deflated.

The 20-mile (32km) journey across the Channel is very dangerous, not least because it is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.