Just because the government used the word illegal doesn't mean they actually are committing a crime. There's no law that says that you are not allowed to come to the UK to seek asylum. Such a law would violate the international law of human rights, so I'm sure the Conservatives are all for it.
They are perfectly allowed to seek asylum in any country they wish, they are not required to seek it in France. Now if they were trying to enter the country illegally that would be different, but they're not, they're actually seeking asylum so they go to the authorities and declare themselves.
It's hardly their fault there's no way for them to do that in France. Conservatives have set the situation up intentionally to make this a problem. It wasn't an issue on the Labour.
An older person I talk with (older than Boomer generation if you can believe that) keeps trying to moot that it's an "invasion" and then goes on about how these invaders have paid thousands to some people trafficker to be able to get over here.
I point out that invaders generally don't pay more than their life savings to invade, they get paid to do so. And they usually turn up with weapons.
Bless 'em, I keep having to reset their compassion because the newspapers must be what's putting these "invasion" ideas in their head.
There's a vague chance they might not vote blue in the upcoming elections.
In other news, and riffing on the "skulls" comment elsewhere, I'd quite like for someone to stand up in the Commons and ask what the government's jackboot budget is these days, and whether teaching armed troops to goose-step is coming back into fashion.