Tom Watson ‘worried for humanity’ after radio caller says we should leave children to drown in English Channel Mr Watson tried to get the caller to empathise with children loaded onto a dinghy

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson was left “worried for the future of humanity” after clashing with a radio show caller who said asylum-seeking children should be left to drown in the English Channel.

The caller to radio station LBC, Andy, said there should be internment camps where asylum seekers in which illegal migrants are sent home.

He also insisted people who have been rescued while crossing the English Channel over the Christmas period are Iranian adult economic migrants, not asylum seekers.

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‘Let them sink’

Mr Watson tried to get Andy to empathise with children loaded on to a dinghy and asked if he would offer them safety were he nearby.

“You’ve got a boat load of kids sinking in the English Channel, what would you do with them?” Mr Watson asked.

Andy responded: “I’d let them sink.”

“So you would let children drown in the English Channel?”

“Yep.”

“How many?”

“As many as it takes to stop them,” Andy replied.

Watson’s ‘hunch’ of virtue

Mr Watson also gave Andy the imaginary power to save people by asking him to think of being on a ferry which finds a dinghy full of people and the captain let’s him decide what to do.

Andy replied: “I’d let it sink.”

Mr Watson ended that call saying: “You leave me worried for the future of humanity with views like that.

“But I have a hunch that if you were really in that situation your virtue would mean you really were in that situation your virtue would mean you rescue those people.”

Migrant crisis

More than 80 migrants have been processed in Dover, while more than 220 people have attempted the crossing on inflatable boats since November.

Mr Javid has declared the influx a “major incident”.

He has also said it was “vital that we strike a balance between protecting [the migrants] and protecting [UK] borders”, adding that it was of “grave concern” that so many families were embarking on the perilous journey to the south east coast of England over the festive period.