The following article was published today on the Liberal Democrat Voice Website.

Tim Farron has made the following comment on the Calais issue:

“If you don’t give people hope, they will resort to desperate measures. We are treating this as a security issue, but primarily it is a humanitarian one.

“We should be big enough to take a lead and accept our fair share of refugees, rather than expecting others to do it for us.

“There are genuine people who need our help, but equally there are people exploiting a desperate situation. The UK government must provide all the support it can to maintain a firm but fair approach at our borders.

“That means the UK needs to sign up to the EU asylum policy, but just moving in with force and building a bigger fence is not a solution.

“We must not lose sight of how desperate someone has to be to cling to the bottom of a lorry in a bid to get a better life.”