By using the Channel crossings as a distraction, the Tories risk turning farce into tragedy

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A group of people thought to be migrants being brought in to Dover, Kent (PA Wire)

The breaking of Covid rules was no laughing matter, but the government’s attempts to evade responsibility have been pure farce, at least up to this point. Now they are adopting the extreme but characteristic strategy of playing to the extreme wing of the Conservative Party and targeting the small number of desperate and vulnerable people who try to cross the Channel in small boats for lack of appropriate ways of applying for refugee status.

The prime minister is seeking to escape the farce that is dragging him down by acting in a way that is likely to promote further tragedy.

James Dickie