Small boat crossings: Government must confront the changing tactics of people smuggling gangs
Small boat crossings have become a millstone around the neck of successive governments. The influx of asylum seekers to this country has understandably become an emotive issue for a lot of the electorate, especially as living standards for taxpayers are squeezed.
However, that does not excuse intimidating behaviour of masked demonstrators. There are legitimate concerns about the number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel. And these concerns must not be allowed to be hijacked by a minority looking to cause trouble.
People who want to protect this country’s values don’t go around wearing balaclavas and intimidating others.
When it comes to dealing with the actual issue of small boat crossings, Labour has managed to get the number trending in the right direction with the levels of Channel crossings consistently falling.
That is not to say that the small boats crisis is over. In fact the journey taken by a small from Normandy to Portsmouth, a journey of around 75 miles, shows the scale of the challenge that the Government faces.
Patrolling both the French and British coastlines is not straightforward. Routes shifting westward from Calais-Dover will terrify Number 10.
There is no quick fix to the migrant crisis and the sooner Europe realises that collective action is needed, the more likely the whole of the subcontinent is to get to grips with it. No country is going to be able to stop asylum seekers making dangerous crossings in isolation.
British authorities, however, need to confront the changing tactics of people smugglers.