Many of the last week’s news headlines related to the ever-present and, seemingly ever-worsening migrant crisis in Calais where thousands of people, mainly young men, are attempting to enter the UK illegally via the Channel Tunnel.

It is undoubtedly a serious and sad humanitarian crisis and one cannot fail to have sympathy for those people fleeing war, oppression and torture in their own countries to seek a better life elsewhere. However, not all migrants are political refugees and many are clearly opportunity seekers who see the UK as a soft touch where successive governments have handed out taxpayers’ money, housing and medical care to all and sundry.

The present government, at last, are showing a more sensible approach and are seeking to reduce benefits and, at least partially, to close the door. It is a difficult problem, of course, and as a civilised nation we should not (and must never) turn our back on the suffering of others. That has to be balanced with a tough and pragmatic immigration policy where those seeking to enter should be individually screened and interviewed and each case decided on its merits.

The fact that thousands of potential immigrants are seeking to force or trick their way into the UK is a sad indictment on the lack of policy and direction of both the United Nations and the European Union. If the United Nations had done its job in taking action in the world’s trouble spots then half of these humanitarian crises would not exist in the first place. The only utterance made by the UN last week on the escalating crisis was the less than helpful criticism by a politically correct spokesman/person of our prime minister for accurately describing potential immigrants as “swarming” over the barricades at Calais. Apparently, this was akin to comparing the migrants to insects!

The UN and the EU should cut the rhetoric, stop prevaricating and do something about the crisis and accept that it is a world problem and certainly European rather than just something to be resolved by the UK and France alone. In the meantime, we should continue to tighten our borders and deliver a message that the UK, whilst fair and civilised, is not El Dorado and those found to have entered illegally (and without passing all tests for political asylum) will be fed and briefly accommodated before being shipped back to whence they came.

That is undoubtedly politically incorrect and some might say it is brutal or ultra right-wing but it is not, it is common sense, pure and simple.