I have been thinking about the issue of migrants crossing the med for a while now.
It is a problem, which the media seem to be directing their attention to, but one that has gone on for a long time.
Whilst I feel sorry for the migrants, escaping troubles or conflict at home, there are those who are travelling - to make money or to have a better life, not because of war or persecution. You have families who stick their young children on board, knowing that the Italian authorities will take the kids into care - if they arrive safely.
However, my main gripe, is the criminals and gangs who charter, hire or purchase the vessels - shipping people across the med, in unsafe pieces if kit, rammed in like cattle.
Call the migrants innocent, naive, desperate, vulnerable, greedy or whatever else, but surely the focus needs to be on discouraging them from getting to Libya in the first place and stopping the gangs from shipping them over?
The gangs who take their money and aren't bothered about the cargo, once it sets sail.
The politicians in the UK seem to have picked up on the latest disaster and are giving it their attention and rhetoric, but what difference will it make?
These politicians are essentially at the beck and call of the EU and as members, will be forced to do what the EU say - which includes open borders policies, across mainland Europe.
You then have that Hopkins woman, who said we should machine gun the lot of them.
Not sure what to suggest in the short term, but action needs taking - so that lives aren't lost and criminals aren't making their millions.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NYwiVwE8MnA