The Tories have no answer to the Channel crossings crisis

One of this government’s favourite tactics is to act as if the beginning of its time in office was the general election of December 2019. This means it can dodge the usual charge against any party that has been in power for more than a decade: why haven’t you fixed the problem already?

Some problems, though, have clearly got much worse since December 2019. One of those is the situation in the Channel. Five years ago, pretty much no one was attempting to cross it illegally on a small boat. So far this year, more than 25,000 migrants have arrived via this route. Last month, 1,185 landed in one day: a new record.

The crisis poses a particular problem for the government for two reasons. First, Boris Johnson has made much of taking back control of Britain’s borders. The regular sight of people scrambling out of dinghies on beaches in Kent rather undercuts that claim. Secondly, Priti Patel has regularly claimed that if the Nationality and Borders Bill passes, the government will be able to solve the problem. If the crisis then continues, it will add to the sense that Johnson’s government talks big but doesn’t deliver. Keir Starmer has been plugging away with this criticism, highlighting how some government slogans — such as the manifesto promise that no one would have to sell their home to pay for care — aren’t what they are made out to be.

One normally optimistic minister doesn’t believe that the Nationality and Borders Bill can solve the Channel crossings problem. While the Bill streamlines the asylum system and means that those who arrive across the Channel are granted only a two-and-a-half-year stay in the UK, these changes alone won’t be enough to break the people smugglers’ business model. There will still be plenty of people prepared to pay thousands of euros to take the chance.