A serious plan to end small boats scandal

RISHI Sunak says he has lost patience with the armada of small boats carrying illegal migrants across the Channel.

He’s not alone – so have the great majority of Britons, who are utterly disillusioned by the failure of successive Tory governments to crack this ever-growing crisis.

With record numbers arriving in dinghies from France – 46,000 migrants last year alone – our border control regime is being shown up as inadequate beyond belief.

So we hope that new legislation – set to be published tomorrow – will at last deter people from putting their lives in the hands of ruthless people smugglers.

Banning Channel migrants from ever settling in the UK, or returning once deported, is to be welcomed, as is making their asylum claims inadmissible.

And the introduction of sweeping powers to detain and swiftly remove illegal entrants, either home or to a safe third country, could be a real game-changer.

However, significant questions still remain. Where will these migrants be held? And while the Rwanda asylum processing scheme is stuck in the European courts, isn’t there a risk the plans will be a damp squib?

Yet the Prime Minister must grasp this nettle. Uncontrolled migration is costing the taxpayer £7million a day and putting enormous pressure on stretched schools, healthcare and social services.

On this, as with so many issues, Labour has no credible solution – and vigorously resists all attempts to find one.

Indeed, Sir Keir Starmer himself not long ago signed a letter calling for the suspension of all flights deporting foreign criminals.

This is make or break for the Tories – an issue that can place clear blue water between the Government and Labour.

If Mr Sunak is serious about restoring his party’s fortunes, he can’t just roll out reams of legislation to convince voters he’s intent on stopping the boats. He must have the political will and moral courage to use it.