Priti Patel argues the few desperate people willing to risk their lives crossing the channel on what are little more that flimsy rafts are “criminals” or worse. She also claims that 70% of people crossing the Channel in small boats are “not genuine asylum-seekers” but are "pulled" to the UK by the prospect of being accommodated in a hotel by the Home Office.

This is a lie.

A study by the Refugee Council has found that 91 per cent of people desperate enough to cross the Channel in small boats come from just ten countries where war, human rights abuses and oppression are common. The countries include Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and Eritrea. In the course of her political career Priti Patel has voted to deploy UK military forces against many of these countries.

Borders and nations have not always existed. What would happen if we scrapped all border and immigration controls?

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