How a Home Secretary deals with a major crisis can often make or break the holder of that office. I recall how in the 1990’s the political reputation of Michael Howard then the Home Secretary, was mortally wounded by the way that he handled criticism of a report into a series of high profile prison escapes. He made the dire mistake, one of the worst that a minister can make, by appearing to cowardly blame lower level Home Office staff for problems that were ultimately his responsibility.

The current holder of the office of Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, also faces a situation, that of the English Channel migrant invasion crisis, that could make or break his career. Unfortunately for Mr Javid, this crisis, which has the potential to be huge and damaging not just to the Home Secretary but to the whole nation, doesn’t so far seem to be being handled that well by him.

To be quite frank the response of Sajid Javid who has ultimate responsibility for the security of Britain’s borders has been woeful and waffling. If press reports on some of Mr Javid’s statements regarding the English Channel Migrant Invasion Crisis are correct, he’s giving the appearance that he is spouting any soothing words he can but doing bugger all to deal with the problem. Despite facing calls from some Members of Parliament to deploy the Royal Navy in the English Channel he’s still not going to allocate more boats for the border patrol.

The language that he is using in his reported statements are also far too conciliatory towards the illegal invaders and he is giving the impression that he is just as concerned with the safety of these invaders as he is about Britons. This is not a good look for a Home Secretary, it makes him look weak and flabby and more concerned about Britain’s image among the the screeching Left than real solid border security. Much of his recent words have been reported by Sky News and they are worth examining to understand just how alarming they will sound to all those Britons, of all races and peaceful faiths, who are concerned about illegal migration and the security problems such migration brings. As is usual policy for this blog the original text from Sky News is in italics whereas this blog’s comments are in plain text.

Sky News said:

The home secretary says he will keep the number of Border Force vessels under close review, as migrants continue to cross the English Channel from France.

Hmm! ‘Close review’, that sounds very much to me like words that mean little or nothing.

But Sajid Javid has not pledged to provide any more boats, saying he wants to ensure Britain does not “encourage more people to make this dangerous journey”, adding that there was “no one easy answer”.

It’s plain for many of us to see that more Border Force boats are needed but as long as the Border Force boats are rescuing these invaders and not repelling them, the problem will both continue and will undoubtedly worsen. I agree with Mr Javid that there are no easy answers to the problem of the English Channel Migrant Invaders, but he needs to remember that a primary responsibility of his is to protect Britain’s borders. Whinging and whining about the poor endangered migrants at sea, as Mr Javid has done, is not protecting the borders. There are no answers to this problem that can allow Mr Javid to deal with this problem without political fallout or without criticism from the Left and pro-migrant groups, but there is an answer that will protect Britons, and that is hard interdiction.

He is expected to speak to the French interior minister on Sunday, Sky News understands.

This is not good enough. I doubt that Mr Javid will get much help from the French, they have their own major internal problems that they need to cope with at the moment. I can well imagine that helping Britain with border security will come right down the list of priorities for France’s equivalent of the Home Office.

Mr Javid, who cut short a family holiday to help deal with what he has described as a “major incident”, is facing calls from MPs to send in the Royal Navy.

The situation has not got so bad that the Royal Navy should be deployed but not as rescue ships but as a proper deterrent to illegal crossings.

In a statement released on Saturday evening, he said the situation in the Channel was of “grave concern, with people gambling their lives in reckless attempts to reach the UK in unsafe boats and treacherous conditions”.

He added, however, that it was “vital we strike a balance between protecting them and protecting our borders”.

Does anybody get the impression, as I do, that Sajid Javid is equally concerned about the fate of illegals, whom Britain neither needs not wants and who may even pose a threat to us, who attempt a Channel crossing? The fate of these illegals should be much further to the back of Mr Javid’s mind than they are. He occupies one of the great offices of state, the Home Office and his primary concern should be protecting Britain’s borders and protecting Britons. He is after all the Home Secretary and not the ‘Minister for Seaborne Invaders’.

As morally and politically difficult a matter as it is, another more harsher policy needs to be brought in to protect Britain’s coasts from these invaders. The policy of rescuing these illegals and invaders will not make the problem better, it will only make it worse by encouraging more crossing attempts. It is a failed policy and repeating it time and time again will not make this failed policy a success. ‘Rescuing’ these invaders picked up in the English Channel and bringing them to our home ports is merely repeating the policy of the EU in the Mediterranean Sea. That is a policy that has brought great harm to the citizens of nations like Italy and Malta, but has also not stopped the flow of boats.

What is unfortunately needed now is hard interdiction of these invader boats and I believe that the Royal Navy should be deployed to enforce this interdiction. In the first instance attempts should be made to ascertain whether the vessel in question in the Channel is legitimate and not a migrant boat, if it is then safety of life assistance should be given. If on the other hand the vessel is identified as a migrant invader boat then its master should be told to turn back to France as they will not be allowed to land in the UK. If they fail to obey or acknowledge this instruction then the progress of such a vessel should be prevented, with lethal violence if necessary and as a last resort. In addition there should be no landing of rescued invaders on British shores as this also encourages more Channel crossings. The invaders should be held in temporary holding cells on board a Royal Navy ship and then landed at the earliest opportunity in France, which is where the majority of these invaders seem to be coming from. It is only by the complete closing off of this migrant route and the judicious use of lethal violence against migrant invader vessels that these crossings will be prevented.

This is Sajid Javid’s first major crisis and he’s not handling it well at all. He’s giving the distinct impression with his expressed concern about the migrant invaders that he is far too worried about covering his own political arse than doing what he was appointed and is paid to do, which is protect Britain’s borders. It was political arse covering that did in the political reputation of the aforementioned former Home Secretary Michael Howard. He never truly recovered from the hit to his reputation caused by one hostile interview about the state of Britain’s prisons and there is a strong possibility that Sajid Javid’s failure to deal properly with the English Channel Migrant Invaders, will kill his political career as well. It’s not hand wringing over the ‘poor migrants at sea’ that is required from the occupier of the officer of Home Secretary at the present time, it is concrete action to protect us from those who at best will be a burden to us and at worse may actively seek our harm. We need to stop these boats for the sake of national security but I’m increasingly coming to the opinion that Sajid Javid is too weak and vacillating a minister to be able to do what is plainly necessary. Theresa May the Prime Minister needs recognise that we need a new Home Secretary who will put border security first. She should replace Sajid Javid at the Home Office with an MP who will take the hard but necessary decision that our borders need to be defended by any means necessary and who will tell the pro-migrant whiners and the Left where to get off.

Britain is facing a terrible invasion crisis that needs to be stopped and it needs to be stopped soon. If we are seeing scores of invaders coming across the Channel in the winter when the crossings are most hazardous, then just imagine how bad it will be when the spring and summer comes and crossings are much easier? I reckon we have a window of approximately three months to get in place a hard interdiction policy and deploy the resources before the steady flow becomes a flood. We need decent border protection but sadly I don’t see Sajid Javid as a suitable minister to either put in place or manage such border protection.