The Prime Minister thinks the 'Cruel Britannia' policy is a winner - it's probably too late for distractions now

The obsession that the Conservatives have with 'little boat people' is one of the stranger stories of our political times. 

It was highlighted some months back during the Owen Paterson scandal, where Boris Johnson was attempting to weather the storm and placate angry Conservatives who felt 'duped' into supporting Paterson - subsequently leading to an outpouring of unexpected anger from the voting public. 

At the time, there were reports that while the Conservatives were angry about the crisis enveloping the party, they were even angrier about why more measures were not being implemented to 'tackle' the so-called migrant crisis, which for many Conservatives is apparently - they say - a central issue for their constituents.

But there’s a problem here - it isn’t a central issue.