Guess what? The public actually agree with Roger Helmer: send troops to Calais

The crisis at Calais has provoked alarmist headlines in recent weeks, as David Cameron said a "swarm" of migrants were trying to reach Britain, and foreign secretary Philip Hammond said Europe's standard of living is under threat.

The situation at the border has been scrutinised after migrants opened security gates and a man was arrested after walking the 31 mile-length of the Channel Tunnel.

Meanwhile, French Police union leader Bruno Noel called for the intervention of the British Army this week, saying that under-resourced French police were “doing Britain’s dirty work".

As you’d expect in an immigration debate, Ukip have had their say in the form of MEP Roger Helmer, who agreed with Mr Noel.

Here's some context: This is Roger Helmer.

Mr Helmer is infamously known for his somewhat conservative views.

He has previously said that homosexuality is "abnormal and undesirable" and not to be "celebrated", and that women share a responsibility in cases of date rape “for establishing reasonable expectations in her boyfriend’s mind".

He once spent £9,000 on a poster campaign for climate change scepticism and tweeted the following about the badger cull debate:

The Ukip MEP for the East Midlands tweeted:

Previous calls for British Army intervention have been labelled inflammatory and probably ineffective. In addition the Gendarmes and French government currently consider the issue a civil one.

Peter Sutherland, UN special representative on migration, labelled calls for intervention in July as "a xenophobic response to the issue of free movement".

"It is exaggerated beyond belief and it is calculated to inflame tensions in regard to the number of people coming into Britain," he said.

However, new research by YouGov has shown that a majority of UK adults would support the British government sending in the Army to assist French authorities in 'restoring order'.

Sixty-seven per cent of 1,972 British adults polled supported sending the British Army, including 81 per cent of Conservative voters and 84 per cent of Ukip voters.

Public opinion in France and Britain differed slightly as to who was responsible for resolving the problems, but, of the options, both countries had the most support for joint responsibility.

French and British adults also disagreed over the reasons they believed migrants wanted to leave Calais for Britain.

French authorities believe that around 3,000 migrants are currently camped in Calais. They report that 37,000 attempts to gain passage to Britain have been blocked since January.

More:Here's how many people are actually seeking asylum in Britain

More:Quiz: Did the media really use these words to describe migrants?