Even by its own high standards, the Conservative Party’s current approach to immigration is particularly bonkers. Tories want Britain to fear a tidal wave of migrants while simultaneously basing their entire prospectus on the economic benefits of migration — all without even trying to explain how those two positions might fit together. It’s a mess that suggests the party isn’t really committed to winning elections — especially in London.
Let’s start with the Channel crossing bit of this mess, since that’s where Tory planners want your attention to be. Government strategists believe there is political advantage for the Conservatives in repeatedly pointing to people seeking to reach Britain via small boats, then waving their hands angrily and making increasingly harsh-sounding promises to Do Something to stop this. Hence threats to deport some migrants to Rwanda (number deported so far: zero) and house others in barges and ferries (also zero).
