Britain says: We will smash the people smugglers

LONDON - Britain is determined to smash the business model of people smugglers after the death of 27 migrants who tried to cross the English Channel, Britain's Immigration Minister Kevin Foster said on Thursday.

Home Secretary Priti Patel will speak to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin later today.

"We're prepared to offer support on the ground we're prepared to offer resources," Foster told BBC TV. "We're prepared to offer, literally, people to go there and help and assist the French authorities."

"We're clear: we don't just see this as an issue that France needs to deal with, but one that we want to work together with France and our wider European partners... to break the business model of these gangs," Foster said.