WE must stem the tide of migrant boats crossing the Channel.

If these desperate attempts continue somebody WILL die.

Britain will not turn its back on tragedy off its shores. But neither can we allow vicious gangsters to exploit those willing to make the treacherous journey, profiting from their misery.

Now that Sajid Javid is back from another ill-timed holiday, he must get to work as the current package looks woefully insufficient. Ensuring the French are playing their part is the first step.

It is an outrage that we still, amidst this crisis, see long periods in which the coast is protected by not one single specialist vessel.

Is it time to send the Navy in? Should we pursue a more aggressive policy of towing boats back?

Harsh as it sounds, there can be no chance whatsoever of somebody jumping the asylum queue by coming here on these boats. That hope encourages these poor people to risk their lives. The Home Office has serious questions to answer, but for now they can wait.

Averting a catastrophe must be our Government’s top priority.

IT has been a great year for the real Britain – that is, the bit outside Westminster.

England’s footballers made memories that’ll last a lifetime, the Welsh Dragon Geraint Thomas roared to Tour de France victory, the Ulsterman Rory Best led a world-beating Irish rugby team and Scotland secured their highest ever medal tally at an overseas Commonwealth Games.

Our cultural exports lead the world, with Gary Oldman taking home the Best Actor Oscar and Ed Sheeran becoming a global music megastar. Our businesses and entrepreneurs are breaking down boundaries every day.

In 2019 our politicians must join the party. This year they have let us down.

It’s time to deliver a Brexit that sets us up for a bright future. They must launch a housebuilding revolution and begin reforming the NHS for the 21st century.

The British spirit has been in evidence all around us this year.

Your turn, Parliament.

ALL hail the robots…

It’s a testament to British ingenuity that roadworks could be a thing of the past, with machines working underground to keep us moving.

It certainly beats the cones hotline.

DAME June Whitfield will be sorely missed.

Always modest, she warmed our hearts with grace and wit for decades.

She was Absolutely Fabulous.