No toleration for this law of the Jungle

WE must sympathise with the French authorities as they struggle to cope with the Jungle, the increasingly lawless and violent migrant camp outside Calais. In the end, France is our chief ally in this battle to maintain the UK’s lawful borders.

It is even possible to feel some sympathy for the migrants themselves, who have made long and perilous journeys in the hope of finding a better life.

But the point comes where that sympathy stops. And that point has surely been reached on the road to the French entrance of the Channel Tunnel, where three journalists working for The Mail on Sunday were very nearly killed following an amazingly irresponsible attack on their car.

The frightening thing is that this is exactly what the perpetrators meant to take place. It is a deliberate new tactic. They were ready to risk the lives of others for their own gain. This could happen to any British family on their way home.

The culprits, almost certainly from the Jungle, were trying to cause an accident on the motorway, in the hope they could use the resulting confusion to force their way into lorries bound for Britain.

There can be no sympathy, understanding or tolerance for such crimes.

Britain must make it plain it will support France in every possible way in actions to deter and prevent future incidents of this sort, and in the most stringent measures to catch and punish such criminals.