The Tory government today denied it has "blood on its hands" over the deaths of four people in the Channel - and vowed not to stop a crackdown on asylum seekers.
Suella Braverman said she "won't stop until we have seen progress" after four migrants died and more than 40 were rescued as a boat sank in the early hours.
The Home Secretary - who weeks ago branded Channel migrants an “invasion” - told MPs: “These are the days that we dread. Crossing the channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour”.
The government had come under fire from campaigners after failing to expand safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK to claim asylum.
Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: “These deaths are wholly unnecessary and preventable. By failing to act, our government has blood on their hands.
"The people we work with in Calais have not only suffered the very worst horrors in this world - conflicts, human rights abuses and torture - they have been brave and resilient enough to escape and survive incredible journeys to come here and ask for our help. And yet we deny them."
The PCS civil service union called for the Home Secretary to “resign in disgrace”.
PCS head of bargaining Paul O’Connor said her “words ring utterly hollow when she has spent her time as Home Secretary vilifying and demonising the very people she now feigns sympathy with.”
But Downing Street said it was "not appropriate" to claim the government had blood on its hands.
The Prime Minster's spokesperson said: "I don't think those sorts of comments are in any way appropriate at this time.
"The government is firmly fixed on resolving this issue and many others talk about wanting to put an end to this - vulnerable people being exploited and making these unsafe journeys. We have accepted hundreds of thousands of individuals through safe and legal routes over a number of years."
And Ms Braverman claimed the four deaths justified her crackdown on Channel migrants.
She told MPs: “It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of the criminal gangs who trade in misery and exploit our system and our laws.”
Blaming the “evil organised criminals who treat human beings as cargo”, she said the deaths were the “most sobering reminder possible of why we have to end these crossings.”
But the MP Patrick Grady told her: "If I understand her correctly, she's saying the people who were pulled alive last night from the Channel - because they've come from a safe country - they are not welcome in the UK.
"Is that really her position?".
Ms Braverman refused to comment and prompted laughter as she said: "This is not a time for politics".
Rishi Sunak yesterday unveiled a hardline plan to crack down on small boat crossings, including removing Albanian arrivals and housing asylum seekers in "disused holiday parks, former student halls and surplus military sites".
He is also seeking to push asylum seekers onto flights to Rwanda before they have the chance to apply for refugee status in the UK.
And the PM has staked his political career on clearing a 92,601-strong backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023.
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said: “The Government will immediately spin this with their usual talk of cracking down on people smugglers, but these deaths could be avoided if the UK, France and other countries created safe routes for people who are seeking asylum.
“The Prime Minister’s remarks this week about people escaping persecution somehow acting ‘illegally’ or ‘cheating’ the system are at the heart of this problem, showing how the Government prefers to scapegoat desperate people rather than assist them.”
Ms Braverman repeated Rishi Sunak’s pledge to have “an annual quota set by Parliament” of the number of people the UK offers safety - but said capacity is not “limitless”.
She added: “People do not need to seek asylum if they are already in a safe country.”
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper demanded answers over the government’s plans and also blasted people traffickers, saying: “They have profited as people have drowned”.
Ms Braverman said: “This government won't stop until we have seen progress - until people understand that taking this lethal journey is not safe, it is not lawful and it will not lead them to a better life in the UK.
“There are millions of people around the world who are fleeing conflict and poverty and seek a better life elsewhere.
“Our capacity in this country is not infinite.
“We cannot accept everybody who wishes to come to this country.
“That is a reality of the world and it's a reality of life. The other party would suggest otherwise.”
The boat, which was carrying up to 50 people, got into difficulty in icy waters during sub-zero temperatures in the early hours - with the coastguard, RNLI and navy ships racing to the scene.
Opening Prime Minister's Questions, Rishi Sunak expressed his “sorrow” at the “capsizing of a small boat” in the English Channel, telling MPs there had been a “tragic loss of human life”.
Keir Starmer said it is “heartbreaking” that there have been more deaths in the Channel.
A Government spokesperson said: “At 0305 today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress.
"After a co-ordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident, investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course.
“This is a truly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives today.”
Meanwhile, leading Tory right-wingers are today launching a battle to ignore human rights laws for asylum seekers.
Boris Johnson is among MPs backing a law that would send UK asylum seekers to Rwanda - even when a court has ruled it is unlawful.
Tory right-winger Jonathan Gullis said his Private Member’s Bill is also backed by former ministers Priti Patel, Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
It will have its first stage in the Commons this afternoon, where it could pass without a vote to its next stage.
Afterwards it could be opposed by the government and be unlikely to become law.
But Mr Gullis’ Bill - also backed by right-wingers Mark Francois, Andrea Jenkyns, Pauline Latham, Tim Loughton, Ben Bradley, Lia Nici and Mark Jenkinson - threatens a revolt against the PM.
