This past week, I found myself hunting people traffickers and drug smugglers with the immigration minister, Liam Byrne, off the coast of Southampton. The crew of the Vigilant, one of five “cutters” that patrol this island’s waters, put on a good show for the minister and assembled media. At one point, a five-man team of customs officers in a speedboat circled and boarded a yacht to check for traces of Class A drugs and stowaways.
I don’t know if the visit was part of a new policy to get the residual talent of the government out and about in all-action situations. All the same, it was disappointing that Byrne didn’t don a wetsuit and crash helmet to join the speedboat patrol. These days ministers have been trained not to get caught in public wearing inappropriate headgear, but surely he could have made an exception to associate himself with these black-clad crime-busters.
Content from our partners
