There is a border emergency. The government's promise to smash the gangs lies in tatters. Far from smashing them, there have been fewer prosecutions than under the previous government, and the small boat trade has just got a lot bigger.
Thousands are crossing the channel illegally.
The French and UK authorities assist them to do so. On arrival, hardly anyone gets arrested or questioned. The people traffickers carry on enjoying the swelling proceeds of crime as if there were no laws against money laundering and running unsafe and overloaded illegal boats.
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Worse still, the illegal arrivals are put up in smart hotels or are found homes by the state, bidding up rents and letting the new arrivals queue jump at taxpayer expense to get a free home.
People who have been living in tents in poor conditions in northern France, a safe country, naturally reckon that making the crossing for all the free facilities on offer in the UK is a no-brainer.
It is made easier with the assistance of the French and UK authorities to ensure a safe passage for greedily overloaded large ribs.
This is angering millions of law-abiding citizens who do not wish their taxes to be used in this way. They want their hotels back for normal use instead of them becoming migrant hostels. They voted out the last government partly for its failure to stop the boats, only to find it is much worse under the new one.
Nigel Farage's mass deportation plan faces one major stumbling block. Our future depends on it - John Redwood | Getty Images
Local hotels are meant to be places where we can go for a special event, or a holiday or a good meal or where businesses can use their facilities to help them grow and create jobs.
People are worried about the impact on their local communities. The movement to display our Union and English flags shows how proud we are of our country and how we want those who govern us to understand that.
The pink ladies' peaceful protests outside migrant hostels show the deep concerns people have who do not normally go on marches.
Today, Nigel Farage launched his response with his usual skilful sense of timing and newsworthiness. He demanded mass deportations and arrests. That will require substantial changes to the UK law and the suspension or abolition of international human rights law in this area to avoid foreign courts and international lawyers overturning decisions.
He is likely to suggest arresting all who come illegally on arrival, detaining them in a military style base and deporting them within 30 days. That would certainly stop the boats and smash the gangs as long as there are places to deport them to.
The government needs to respond. It has been offering stunts and token changes that are not going to stop the rising numbers or the increase in size of the boats.
Showing one example for TV of a boat being slashed by French policy before it pushed off from shore does not mean that it is going to happen to large numbers of boats in a way that would make the trade impossible.
Indeed, has it happened again at all? Offering a one-in-one-out scheme was never going to provide a serious deterrent to a migrant eyeing jealously what all the other illegal migrants had gained from undertaking the crossing.
The odds are still too good that the illegal boat trip can lead to much better free accommodation, followed by a good chance of being allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely and legally.
A government that has lost control also seems to allow too much illegal working from the very hotels and other accommodations migrants have been given on the understanding that they cannot seek employment.
The government could, in the September session about to start in Parliament, put through the Conservative legislative proposals that they spurned when they were first tabled.
The Opposition amendments to the migration law included disapplying all human rights law to immigration matters so asylum cases could be considered and judged under UK laws with far fewer appeals.
It proposed the deportation of all foreign criminals, a power to revoke Indefinite leave to remain, allowing the removal of people deemed to be a "burden to the UK", and an increased salary threshold for work visas.
The Conservatives drafted new criminal offences of supplying or handling items for illegal entry and collecting information for illegal journeys.
Immigration staff and the police were to have the power to seize mobile phones and other devices likely to contain details of the fare, trip and smuggling operation.
The Conservatives in office had belatedly enacted a ban on anyone arriving illegally from claiming asylum on arrival, only to see the new government repeal it before it was operating.
The government has to recognise that its legislation so far has weakened the government's powers to tackle this crisis.
They should see that their idea of faster decision-making and clearing backlogs means granting more asylum rights to more people more quickly, which will encourage more to come.
Only when the government gets serious about tackling all the crimes connected to the illegal boats, and takes a firm line on not accepting asylum claims from those who come illegally, will it be able to calm this crisis.
The public is so angry. This problem is undermining the bond of trust between the public and a government recently elected with a large majority.
The public thought the government meant it when it said they would smash the gangs. Instead, the gangs are smashing the government.