A SOUTH Cumbria MP has called for action to tackle those 'peddling a lie' after four people died while trying to cross the Channel.

Simon Fell, who represents the Barrow and Furness constituency, asked a question of Home Secretary Suella Braverman in Parliament. 

He said: "This is a tragedy from top to bottom.

"Dozens of souls huddled in an insufficient boat, travelling across the world’s busiest shipping lane, in minus four-degree waters.

"These journeys shouldn’t be undertaken at all, and our thoughts are obviously with those who’ve lost their lives and those who are fighting for their lives right now.

"But I’d also like to pay tribute to those who are working in the Channel, keeping people safe and picking them up when boats do capsize – we met some of them in our work on the Home Affairs Committee.

"I welcomed the prime minister’s statement yesterday but would my right honourable friend agree that really what we need to do is tackle these gangs and go back upstream to make sure that those who are peddling a lie, saying that these journeys are safe, that people can live a successful economic life here, are wrong, and go after their money, and also target the social media companies who allow adverts to be shared online, promoting these routes as being a safe and easy way to access the UK?"

Ms Braverman responded: "Well yes, he’s right, tackling the criminal gangs is essential here.

"And that’s why on the back of the Calais Group agreement that I struck last week, I was really glad that we’ve all committed to the UK supporting resources at Frontex [the European Border and Coast Guard Agency] at the European border, because many of the people arriving here in the Channel will come from outside the EU, through the Western Balkans, and make their way right across the EU to northern France and then take the journey that way, and if we can help bolster that EU border, that will have a preventative element.

"And he’s absolutely right about social media, and that was part of the discussion last week as well."