Nick Clegg: Stop the smugglers who are ‘peddling this terrible trade’

A migrant disembarks from the Italian Coast Guard ship Gregretti

The Liberal Democrat leader has again responded to the deaths in the Mediterranean, reiterating his argument that stopping the smugglers at the source should be the priority rather then new patrols.

He said that more aid and assistance offered to Africa would stop people risking “life and limb” in the first place. The solution, he says, is on land not at sea.

He told Sky News: “But in terms of this problem – and it’s a longstanding problem – of large numbers of people moving from North Africa seeking to somehow, by hook or by crook, making their way into Europe, I think the solution has to be found on land in North Africa rather than measures at sea in the Mediterranean.”