DAILY MAIL COMMENT: A serious plan to end the small boats scandal 

A serious plan to end small boats scandal

Rishi Sunak says he has lost patience with the armada of small boats carrying illegal migrants across the Channel.

He’s not alone – so have the great majority of Britons, who are utterly disillusioned by the failure of successive Tory governments to crack this ever-growing crisis.

With record numbers arriving in dinghies from France – 46,000 migrants last year alone – our border control regime is being shown up as inadequate beyond belief.

So we hope that new legislation – set to be published tomorrow – will at last deter people from putting their lives in the hands of ruthless people smugglers.

Banning Channel migrants from ever settling in the UK, or returning once deported, is to be welcomed, as is making their asylum claims inadmissible.

Rishi Sunak says he has lost patience with the armada of small boats carrying illegal migrants across the Channel

And the introduction of sweeping powers to detain and swiftly remove illegal entrants, either home or to a safe third country, could be a real game-changer.

However, significant questions still remain. Where will these migrants be held? And while the Rwanda asylum processing scheme is stuck in the European courts, isn’t there a risk the plans will be a damp squib?

Yet the Prime Minister must grasp this nettle. Uncontrolled migration is costing the taxpayer £7million a day and putting enormous pressure on stretched schools, healthcare and social services.

On this, as with so many issues, Labour has no credible solution – and vigorously resists all attempts to find one.

Indeed, Sir Keir Starmer himself not long ago signed a letter calling for the suspension of all flights deporting foreign criminals.

This is make or break for the Tories – an issue that can place clear blue water between the Government and Labour.

If Mr Sunak is serious about restoring his party’s fortunes, he can’t just roll out reams of legislation to convince voters he’s intent on stopping the boats. He must have the political will and moral courage to use it.

Headache for Hunt

Freezing fuel duty. Extending a cap on household energy bills. Inflationary pay claims by militant public sector unions.

The competing demands ahead of his first Budget on March 15 will surely cause Jeremy Hunt a few headaches.

But thanks to public borrowing coming in at £30billion less than predicted, the Chancellor might need fewer paracetamol.

The competing demands ahead of his first Budget on March 15 will surely cause Jeremy Hunt a few headaches

He’s right to use the windfall to raise defence spending. With so many threats to our security, it is imperative the Armed Forces are properly funded.

But if one of the Chancellor’s priorities is growth, he should also consider putting more money in people’s pockets by cutting personal and business taxes.

As we report today, dozens of US firms are snubbing Britain because of Mr Hunt’s tax raids and red tape. He must use his bonanza to scrap plans to raise corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent, which deters investment and threatens creation.

It is baffling that a Conservative government should pursue such a ruinous policy. By damaging growth, it is damaging its chances of electoral survival.

A royal olive branch

On Saturday, the self-pitying prince popped up again, on a global livestream, to trash his upbringing

After all the vitriol Harry and Meghan have heaped on the Royal Family, the King could have been forgiven for banning the wayward pair from his Coronation.

On Saturday, the self-pitying prince popped up again, on a global livestream, to trash his upbringing in return for a fat pay cheque.

So it does Charles enormous credit that he will invite the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the ceremony and let them stay at Frogmore Cottage, which they have been told to vacate, should they attend.

This olive branch shows the monarch’s extraordinary magnanimity. If his younger son has any sense, he will grasp it.