Will small boats prove the sticking point of Sunak’s premiership?

Technocratic Sunak should be the perfect prime minister to deal with this. Does he have the guts? asks Marie Le Conte

Small boats have been a thorn in the party and the country’s side for too long (UK Parliament/AFP/Getty)

“Britain has a proud tradition of welcoming and protecting asylum seekers [...] but all these routes need to be safe and they need to be controlled, which getting in a rubber dinghy is not”, the home secretary told the House of Commons.

“Encouraging people to cross the channel dangerously to come here is not an act of compassion, so I will continue to do all I can to stop these dangerous crossings.”

Then he sat back down. This isn’t a typo; the home secretary in question was Sajid Javid, and the year was 2019. His statement was the first on the subject of small boats, and it took place in January, just over four years ago.