For as long as humanity has existed, there have always been those who would view our species as either essentially benevolent or inherently selfish. And while individuals can undoubtedly be either or a combination of both, we are all broadly inclined to view mankind with either kindly or suspicious eyes. On a sliding scale, all of us are either with Rousseau or Hobbes, holding a position which largely correlates with politics and age.

Whether that child was his or not was not the point: how could any human being leave a baby to its own fate that way?

Whether that child was his or not was not the point: how could any human being leave a baby to its own fate that way?

The dark side of humanity was on grim display last week when footage emerged of a migrant abandoning an infant in the English Channel as he clambered onto a dinghy, leaving his baby to be picked up by rescuers. Whether that child was his or not was not the point: how could any human being leave a baby to its own fate that way?

Furthermore, whether this man was so desperate to flee persecution or fear of death in the land of his origin that he would do go to any lengths to seek asylum in Britain (notwithstanding that his immediate country of origin was France), or whether he was just seeking a new life where........

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