Britain has stopped overloaded boats before, and it did not do it at sea

The boats crossing the Channel keep getting bigger. Reporting yesterday put a record number of people on a single inflatable. Whenever the crossing gets more dangerous, the load goes up rather than down, and that's the tell: the person deciding how many people go on the boat is never one of the people on it.

Britain has met this machine before, and it beat it.

Members only

Every writer, every column

The last 30 days of the argument are free for everyone, always. The archive beyond that is a Member thing - it is part of what keeps the whole record free.

£10/mo - first 2 months £5 · cancel any time