The opposition’s attack on the Tories’ ‘incompetence’ rather than inhumanity is reminiscent of the mistakes of New Labour
So-called crises over asylum seekers have become a central part of UK politics over the past three decades. They follow a depressingly familiar pattern: every few years, there is a new wave of scare stories about increasing asylum numbers, governments make the laws stricter, and people die trying to cross borders.
On Friday, Keir Starmer waded into the latest version of this debate. He made a statement about the current “crisis” in the Channel, attacking the government for not reducing the number of people trying to make the journey, and criticising cuts to international aid and Priti Patel’s inability to secure a “strong” agreement with France to stop people making this journey.
