Wave machines, mile-long nets, sonic cannons, and armoured jet skis. These are among the preposterous but genuine outcomes of Home Office brainstorming on ways to deter small boats attempting to cross the channel between Britain and France. While many never made it into serious policy proposals, and are in flagrant contravention of international law, some of them have stuck. The climate of panic triggered by the trebling numbers of successful sea crossings in 2021 has galvanised the Conservative Party into action. Just weeks before 27 people tragically died in the English channel when their bo…