Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has spoken out against the UK government's Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Lords, stating that it will not stop small boats

crossing the English Channel. The flagship legislation aims to ensure that people who arrive in the UK in small boats would be detained and promptly removed either to their home country or a third country.

The Archbishop said that the Bill fails to take a long-term and strategic view of the challenges of migration and undermines international co-operation, adding that even if the Bill succeeded in temporarily stopping boats, it would not stop conflict or climate migration.

This is the Archbishop's second major rebuke of the government's treatment of migrants and asylum seekers. Photo by U.S. Department of State from United States, Wikimedia commons.