There are two stories Britain keeps telling as though they were one.
The first begins in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale and Oldham. It involves girls who were abused for years, local institutions that failed them, and men from particular communities whose ethnicity officials were often reluctant even to examine.
The second begins in the English Channel. It involves rubber boats, smugglers, asylum claims, hotels, return agreements and a population whose national composition changes every few years.
Somehow these became the same story.