Reform today pledged the ‘biggest mass deportation programme’ in UK history, as Nigel Farage thrust the issue of illegal migration back onto the Westminster agenda. Over the long conference recess, Andy Burnham has made an immense effort to steer public discourse away from the dinghy crisis, opting instead to make bogus claims about Russian interference in Brexit and focus on forging closer ties with Europe. At a press conference in Dover today, Farage sought to put an end to Labour’s distraction tactics – and he was shrewd to do so.

Burnham and his advisers appear to believe that by avoiding the subject of illegal migration, the crisis will simply be forgotten. There was hardly a peep about the issue at Labour’s jamboree in Liverpool and, with the weather beginning to cool, Channel crossings are likely to slow. Burnham will take this as a free pass to avoid offending his base by drawing attention to the scandal – or to his government’s supposed efforts to clamp down on it. Reform’s determination to keep the issue on the agenda, and force the Prime Minister onto the defensive, is an astute political strategy.

Burnham appears to believe that by avoiding the subject of illegal migration the crisis will simply be forgotten

Burnham appears to believe that by avoiding the........

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