Stop pointing fingers, Priti Patel, you have created an environment in which people traffickers thrive

Following the deaths this week of a family of four trying to cross the English Channel, Home Secretary Priti Patel attempted to capitalise on the tragedy by placing the blame at the feet of people-traffickers. Her comments echoed those she made just two months ago after the death of a 16-year-old boy trying to cross the Channel, save for the adjective “abhorrent” being updated to “callous” as a way to describe “the criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people”. Publishing generic press releases in the wake of a tragedy and pointing fingers at nameless, faceless entities that operate in the shadows is an easy way to deflect attention from one’s own failings and policies which have undoubtedly...