For almost a year, the Prime Minister has refused to deviate from that well-worn mantra of "we're smashing the gangs".
But however much he believes that to be the case, with every new small boat arrival, it's an assertion that looks increasingly absurd.
We're now well over 17,000 arrivals so far this year, and the numbers are only going in one direction.
The figure is close to 50 per cent higher than the number of Channel migrants who made the illegal crossing in the same period last year.
And so this week, we finally got a statement of the bleeding obvious, that the situation in the Channel is "deteriorating".
Sir Keir Starmer knows Labour faces a long hot summer of misery, as far as the small boats crisis is concerned.
Even the establishment media has woken up to this crisis, despatching reporters to wade knee-deep into the water on the beaches of northern France.
From our first day on air, GB News has continuously monitored and reported on the key developments in the Channel.
We're the only news network to employ a specialist producer in Kent, whose sole purpose is to track small boat movements.
We're already at the highest number of crossings at this point than in any year since the crisis began in 2018.
Labour faces a long hot summer of misery in the Channel. Even the MSM is waking up to the crisis - Mark whiteGetty Images
And today I can tell you that UK and French authorities are braced for a massive surge in small boat arrivals, with largely good weather in the Channel over the next fortnight.
A senior maritime source has told me, a string of so-called "Red days" might easily see several thousand migrants make the illegal journey.
It could take the number of small boat migrants so far this year to more than 20,000.
The National Crime Agency and other law enforcement partners here and abroad have had some success in arresting suspected people smugglers and disrupting parts of the small boat supply chain.
But this is an international trade in people smuggling which makes huge sums of money, already close to £1billion, and has very robust supply lines that have been strengthened over the past seven years.
Law enforcement can take out one particular gang and disrupt a supply line, but the organised crime groups quickly adapt and overcome any temporary interruptions to their criminal enterprise.
Over the longer term, a concerted international effort might have an impact on the numbers crossing the Channel, but there's no guarantee.
Having observed the migrant crisis, from lorry to small boat, for many years, I'm doubtful a law enforcement approach alone will make the real difference that's needed.
And without a proper deterrent, the only real determinant of how many migrants make it to the UK might simply be the conditions in the Channel.
In such a scenario, praying for bad weather doesn't seem to be much of a policy to me.
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