Humiliating arrival of 1,194 illegal migrants in a single day must be a watershed moment in immigration crisis
Watershed day
THE arrival of 1,194 illegal migrants across the Channel on Saturday is a total humiliation for the politicians who have failed to keep us safe.
It made a mockery of Keir Starmer's pledge last summer to 'smash the gangs' — and his much-trumpeted new £150million Border Security Command was quickly overwhelmed.
And in an ironic reversal of our nation's Dunkirk spirit, local fishing boats were asked to help out.
Meanwhile, the French cops — handed £480million by Britain — again stood watching uselessly as boatloads of mainly young men set sail unimpeded.
The Government says things will change now it has persuaded France to implement new rules later this year to allow police to go out into the sea.
Some hope, when French naval vessels have spent years merely escorting dinghies into British waters.
The numbers of migrants stopped by France have fallen as our cheque paid to them has got bigger.
The French blame us for offering benefits and free hotels and say the UK is an El Dorado paradise for illegals.
It's hard to argue.
Nothing will substantially shift the dial until a proper deterrent is found.
Rwanda might have been it. The PM scrapped it.
This should be a watershed moment.
Depressingly, the problem this summer is only likely to get worse.
Scores of migrants board overloaded dinghies to make dangerous Channel crossing to UK - as French cops watch on
Vital war chest
AFTER years of Whitehall deciding that defending the nation didn't matter, the Government is right to now increase spending as part of today's Strategic Defence Review.
Given massive global uncertainty, the UK should be on a war footing.
Yet there are concerns that the review doesn't go far enough.
There is still doubt over whether or when Labour will spend three per cent of GDP on defence.
Planned submarines and weapons factories are also still decades away.
Then there's Britain's appalling record on procurement which has wasted billions on dud kit.
There is still a great deal more for this Government to do.
Inns and outs
FOR a trade already on the brink, Rachel Reeves's jobs tax Budget threatened to hammer pubs and restaurants.
So it has proved, as her National Insurance rises are now being blamed for a third of locals making daily losses.
The entire hospitality industry is now under grave threat — as are small businesses on our high streets.
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