From Dunkirk's ‘Little Ships' to today's ‘small boats'
Sometimes, events provide a metaphor for the state of British politics that is simply too perfect to pass up. On Wednesday, a flotilla of 'Little Ships' set out to cross the English Channel in commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the rescue of British forces from Dunkirk. Regrettably, their journey was disrupted by the present-day exodus from the beaches of northern France when Border Force and the French Navy insisted on a one-nautical-mile exclusion zone for a single migrant boat.
It is hard to think of a better illustration of the absurdities imposed on the British people by Sir Keir Starmer's failure to get a grip on the Channel crisis. The costs of the uncontrolled flow of migration from the beaches of France continue to mount, with taxpayers paying roughly £4.6 million each day for their accommodation, and there is little prospect of this flow ending.
While the Germans were unable to halt the small boats in 1940, the French are unwilling to stop them in 2025. The British state, meanwhile, appears essentially content with letting things carry on as they are.
Sir Keir's pledges to 'smash the criminal gangs' and to establish 'return hubs' carry little weight when set against his actions, and in particular the decision to gut the Rwanda scheme, which could have functioned as a possible deterrent.
There should be little surprise in Downing Street, then, at modelling which predicts arrivals hitting a new record high this year, or at tumbling support from a population tired of excuses rather than solutions. Unless Sir Keir is willing to come up with a genuine policy for dealing with the Channel crisis, Labour stands little chance of re-election.
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