“They’ve got to know that if they come here, they won’t stay here.” Nigel Farage? Robert Jenrick? Suella Braverman? Not on this occasion. These hostile words about refugees coming by irregular means to Britain were uttered on the BBC by a King’s Counsel, chum of Tony Blair, the former lord chancellor and impeccable social democrat Lord Falconer.
A pillar of the liberal establishment and still a senior and respected figure in Labour circles, Charlie Falconer is perhaps indicative of a shifting mood at the top of his party about how to deal with the migrant crisis – both in practical policy terms, and as it is currently translating into some pretty raw party politics.
