Two hours after returning from his trade mission to south-east Asia on Friday, David Cameron was chairing a well-publicised meeting of the emergency Cobra committee on disruption at the Channel ports. An hour later, Mr Cameron went in front of the cameras to set out the measures the government is taking to keep the migrants out of the ports and to get the lorries moving again. Most of what he announced was sensible, as far as it goes, which is not all that far, because a lot of it had been announced earlier, the issues are complex and implementing these things takes time. Mr Cameron admitted as much himself: “This is going to be a difficult issue right across the summer.” Translated, this means there are no quick fixes. Fresh action by French ferry workers, who again burned tyres on the autoroute approaches into Calais on Friday, showed he was probably right.
The reality, partly for that reason, is that this show of prime ministerial action was indeed more a show than anything else. But a show was needed. Modern politics, with the media playing a decisive direct and indirect role, can make unreasonable demands on politicians. The demands become especially unreasonable at holiday time, when politicians can be portrayed as indifferent to the public suffering or inconvenience. This does not mean that the demands can simply be ignored because they should not be necessary in a rational world.
The Channel migrant crisis is a good example of this. The causes of the nightly disruption on the French coast are large, hemispheric and difficult. Mr Cameron can’t solve these problems unilaterally, partly because the Channel coast migrants are a subset of a far larger and more fluid Europe-wide problem. The prime minister does not have to pretend to be a superman, but he does have to be seen to grip the issue. Residents of Kent and British holidaymakers are not unrealistic about difficult things, but they are entitled to expect some reassurance.
In some respects, the appearance of action is as important as the action itself, especially in August. Like other people, Mr Cameron wants and needs a holiday. But as prime minister he has to be seen to be doing the people’s business first. He can’t head for Cornwall or the Algarve if people think he is relaxing while they (or the people they see complaining on the television) are suffering. The pitiless tone of social media has made this sort of exercise even harder to manage than before. And it was hard enough before.
In a perfect world, the new fences outside Calais and Coquelles would be quickly erected and immediately effective in calming the reckless disorder near the ports. The migrants would then be deterred, their claims would be properly processed and the unqualified would be returned humanely to their countries of origin if possible. Life for the residents of the Pas de Calais would return to normal. The stacked-up lorries on the British side of the Channel would be released to travel safely, while Kent residents could get on with their lives again. The holiday season could resume as well, and Mr Cameron would finally be able to get to the beach with his kids.
That isn’t going to happen, not all of it anyway, and not to an orderly or predictable timetable either. But that is no reason to exaggerate the scale and threat from an indisputably difficult situation. What is needed is strong but steady leadership that acts consistently and decisively. That means recognition that the disruption must not get worse, readiness to help take firm but fair measures to deal with it, cooperation with France which acknowledges that the situation on the Channel is part of a larger migration challenge for Europe, and determination not to say stupid things that make matters worse. Mr Cameron said sensible things on Friday, but he should not have referred to migrants as a “swarm” during the week. There should be no more muddled and insulting talk about sending the army to France – Calais is in France these days. And ministers on both sides of the Channel must not lose sight of the larger interest of maintaining relations to help secure the UK’s place within the EU.