Tabloids criticize France over migration issue

British tabloids combined two of their favorite themes in covering the Calais migrants controversy on Thursday - French-bashing and railing against the government response to illegal immigration.

Many called for the British army to be sent to France to stop migrants trying to cross the English Channel.

Some suggested Nepalese Gurkha troops based in Kent, the southern English county directly over from Calais, were best placed to step in.

"Send in the army," the right-wing Daily Mail splashed on its front page. Over five pages of coverage, its articles included one opinion piece headlined: "We kept out Hitler. Why can't our feeble leaders stop a few thousand exhausted migrants?"

Another was headlined: "Why the French ARE to blame". It cited British Prime Minister David Cameron saying that Britain needed to work with France rather than point the finger of blame.

But the article added: "Sorry, prime minister, but we should point fingers - directly at the French. The responsibility for this increasingly dangerous situation lies with them."

Britain's top-selling tabloid, The Sun, sent people to send out free pizzas to drivers stuck in traffic jams in Kent. Here, police have implemented Operation Stack to tackle the delays that are making thousands of British trucks line up on the M20 motorway when services are disrupted.

Its editorial also called for British and French troops to be sent in.

"France's heart is not in it. Their cops are overwhelmed and, besides, they'd rather pass the buck to us," it added. "The anarchy at Calais is a weeping sore on the face of Europe."