Sunak needs a plan B for illegal migration

When Rishi Sunak made ‘stop the boats’ one of his key pledges at the start of the year he mentioned the importance of being seen to ‘strain every sinew’ in pursuit of that goal.

This led some of us to suppose he had a fall-back position should he prove unable to stop all illegal immigration via dinghies across the Channel: that if he was seen to try everything but ended up being blocked by the liberal establishment then he might still be given credit by voters who would rally to his side in any general election fought on the issue.

The first string to his bow has already snapped. He has not stopped the boats. He cannot even now claim that he has substantially reduced them. When he went to Dover on June 5, Sunak argued that the fact that crossings were down 20 per cent on 2022 showed his policies were starting to work.