Sometimes a narrative about a hapless government can develop that means even the most apparently trivial of news stories gains much greater traction for being set in the context of a wider pattern of failure, misjudgement and setbacks.

So it is with the remarkable story of an Iranian migrant who came to Britain illegally on a boat, made his claim for asylum, had it rejected, was returned to France and then simply made the journey again – making a mockery of the “one in, one out” returns agreement with France.

It happened just as the number of such Channel crossings exceeded the total number for the whole of 2024. The farcical element thus highlighted a wider political challenge connected to relatively high volu

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