it made migration and control of immigration a massive problem in public debates when the reality of the situation was that we didn't even bother monitoring visas and sending people home because it wasn't economically worth the effort of doing so - the numbers involved that were problematic were so small that it wasn't worth the cost of policing it.

when we were in the eu, we had the power to send people off if they didn't find jobs etc. we always did. since brexit, those number have gone up massively. in effect voting for brexit on the basis of border control was a massive, massive self-own.

but we can't criticise brexit because it was the will of the majority, so now we have the ridiculous problem where people were convinced that migration was a problem, voted for something that made it worse, and now have an actual problem to deal with. while i applaud the appeal to reason, i've had many similar conversations with people who believe 'nigel will sort them all out' who don't understand that we need migrants to keep the country going. hell, we're talking about the same people who complain about 'foreign doctors and nurses' while being given literal life saving care by the very same, so common sense, decency and even gratitude are all evidently severely lacking.

as for this fixation on 'stop the boats'... people mean two different things by it. on the one hand, it means 'stop migration' and stop these foreigners coming here, and for others it means 'stop endangering people's lives and give them safe routes'. they're both opposite points of view, but it's basically used as a dog whistle for the right.

brexit divided this country, and the rift can't heal while we have divisive grifter politicians like farage willing to do and say anything to make themselves money without a care for the country they supposedly represent.