I want the UK to be an open, tolerant, culturally diverse country: I passionately believe we should be welcoming people here from across the world. I relish the fact that, here in London, I can trundle up to Woolwich market and find people from all kinds of exotic, wonderful places, interacting with one another. More personally, I am the grandson of Greek immigrants who came to the UK from Cyprus around eighty years ago. Immigration is a country’s lifeblood, without which it would culturally stagnate.

However, there is no denying that people should come here safely. Irrespective of how you feel about migration, people should not be forced to cross the English Channel in small boats. It is simply too dangerous. As others are pointing out, they are often trafficked by gangs, forced to take the risky crossing out of sheer desperation. Surely we, as a civilised, compassionate country, should not allow that to continue.

Yet the answer is obviously not just to threaten to deport these people to Rwanda. These immigrants are desperate; they want to come here as a place of safety. If we really were a civilised nation, we would be trying to ensure they have a safe, secure way to get here, before ensuring that they all have safe, secure homes. We would also be breaking up the vile gangs who trafficked them in the first place.

Instead, the heartless, brainless charlatans currently governing the country just want to send these immigrants elsewhere. The Tories don’t care about these desperate people: they just want to make a show of turning them away, in an effort to appease the knuckle-dragging xenophobes whose votes they want. They can’t honestly think that people who will do anything to reach the UK would have second thoughts about crossing the channel, simply because they might be sent to Rwanda. The government doesn’t care about international law, cultural diversity, tolerance, or even human compassion; they just want to look tough and strong by turning their back on people looking for help. I find it gut-wretchingly abominable: how can we, as a civilised, tolerant, enlightened society, continue to allow these charlatans to speak for us.