Government attacks people crossing the Channel in small boats in its latest bout of punching down

Forgive me for feeling underwhelmed. As a general rule, countries collaborating on crime have not yet managed to do away with crime. But I suppose that doing something – even if it’s only being seen to do something – is better than doing nothing. So a big welcome to the 40 countries who have converged on Lancaster House in central London at Keir Starmer’s invitation for a summit on tackling illegal migration.

The government has chosen some curious targets for its attacks since the election last July. Mostly punching down. First it had pensioners in its sights, as it removed the winter fuel allowance. Then it went after farmers. Recently it has had a go at cutting benefits for disabled people. Now it is the turn of migrants. Maybe it’s just a wonder that Starmer took this long to get round to people making the small boat crossing from France. Every government is trying to out-Farage Farage these days.