Following votes in the House of Commons on the Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, where Conservative MPs voted to overturn cross-party amendments passed in the Lords, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said: “Priti Patel’s Anti-Refugee Bill is a traffickers’ charter. By voting for it, Conservative MPs have voted for deaths in the Channel.
“Taking away any safe and legal route for refugees to reach the UK will only force them to take dangerous ones.
“The real problem is entirely a structural one of incompetence in the Home Office, and this Bill will do nothing to fix it. It will only make it worse.
“The UK has a glorious, centuries-old reputation as a place of sanctuary. We will not let that be sullied by this puny little Government.”