HUNDREDS attended a vigil outside the Home Office last night, declaring that the British government had “blood on its hands” after the deaths of 27 people in the Channel. 

Mourners also gathered in Brighton, Glasgow, Hastings, Worthing, Chesterfield, Swansea, and across the Channel in Calais to remember those who drowned in Wednesday’s disaster. 

In London, a speaker from Remember and Resist, a campaign group set up in the wake of the Essex lorry deaths in 2019, blamed the deaths on the “violent global border regime.”

“We chose to gather here two years ago in recognition that the Home Office has blood on its hands,” she said. “It is staggering but unsurprising that we are back here today for the very same reason.”

Migrants Organise campaigner Nanou Thassinda said the deaths in the Channel were not an accident, but a “direct result of hostile environment policy.

“We came together to grieve, to stand together for a fairer safer system to prevent a tragedy like this.

“This fight is a very long fight but I believe together we can win it.”

In Calais, mourners marched to the coast and threw red roses into the sea in memory of the 27 people who died, including a pregnant woman and three children. 

A banner with the names of hundreds of refugees who have died at the Britain-France border since 1999 was laid out on the street. 

Following the vigil in London, about seven protesters were stopped and searched by officers while on their way home.

Officers stopped the individuals on suspicion they were carrying items to cause criminal damage, including a paint bomb, one of the protesters told the Morning Star, but did not find any such items.  

An 18-year-old, who did not want to be named, said she found the experience “pretty violating,” adding: “We were literally just exercising our democratic right to protest and we were stopped and searched for literally no reason. They just didn't like the look of us.”

The Metropolitan Police were approached for comment.

Activists are set to be out in force again on Saturday an emergency “don’t let them drown” demonstration, called by Stand Up To Racism and Care4Calais, from 2pm opposite Downing Street.

Stand Up To Racism co-convener Sabby Dhalu said: “This horrific loss of life could have been avoided if the British government allowed safe passage for refugees.”