A better answer to the migrant crisis

The Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s could serve as a model solution to our own migrant crisis in the Mediterranean. Matthew Partridge reports.

The death toll from the recent capsizing of a boat carrying migrants from Libya across the Mediterranean is now estimated to be at least 920. Last Friday, Labour leader Ed Miliband launched a "stinging attack" on prime minister David Cameron's Libyan policy, reports The Independent.

Miliband claimed that Cameron's hands-off approach after the removal of Colonel Gaddafi had created instability in Libya. The ensuing chaos has led to thousands of north Africans drowning in the Mediterranean as they try to flee the crisis.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri