Hyperventilation

It is unravelling nicely, but as fast as some would have it. The "colleagues" are meeting and the underpants laundry is on overtime, but contrary to some assertions, the tanks are not massing on the Danish border to see off the Muslim hordes.

This is very much more dangerous – the insidious doctrine of the beneficial crisis, using the flood of immigrants to argue for a common migration policy. It is bad enough as it stands, but if the "colleagues" get their way, then we can kiss goodbye to the last vestiges of control over our own borders.

Meanwhile, what few seem to be picking up is the ethnic mix of the migrants coming over in the current waves of boats from North Africa. We are seeing Nigerian, Eritrean, Congolese and Sudanese, amongst others. These are not refugees from the war zone, but opportunists using the gap in the controls to sneak through.

We recall how, in 1956, some of the "colleagues" – only half jokingly – wanted to put up a statue to Nasser, in recognition of the role he played in furthering European integration. With claims that Gaddafi is using the migrant crisis as a means of getting back at the coalition, the chances are that someone will be suggesting a statue in Brussels, to commemorate the Libyan dictator.

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