A RECORD of 125 migrants arrived on a “mega-dinghy” just hours before Keir Starmer branded Nigel Farage’s migration plan racist.
The migrants came over from France on Saturday, on a weekend when at least three people – including a child – died.
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The number of people on board breaks a previous record from August, when 106 migrants crossed to the UK.
It comes after Sir Keir ramped up his attacks on Farage by branding his pledge to scrap indefinite leave to remain (ILR) as “racist” and “immoral”.
He told the BBC: “It is one thing to say we are going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that.
“It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them.
“They are our neighbours. They are people who work in our economy. They are part of who we are. It will rip this country apart.”
Pressed directly, he said: “Well, I do think that is a racist policy.”
However he said this only for his own Home Secretary to pledge a similar crackdown.
Foreigners on benefits risk being deported under proposals to be unveiled by Shabana Mahmood.
She will use her Labour conference speech to vow to deny permanent residency to migrants without a job, a clean criminal record, a good grasp of the English language or history of community work.
Speaking of Saturday’s crossings, she said: “These small boats crossings are utterly unacceptable and the vile people smugglers behind them are wreaking havoc on our borders.
“Thanks to our deal with France, people crossing in small boats can be detained and the first removals have now begun.
“Protecting the UK border is my priority as Home Secretary and I will explore all options to restore order to our immigration system.”
Several people have been removed to France under the UK Government’s “one in, one out” deal.
It is part of Sir Keir‘s efforts to “smash the gangs” that smuggle migrants to the UK and deter people from making the journey.
The number of migrant arrivals on small boats has topped 33,000 in 2025 so far, marking a record for this point in the year since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
Saturday saw 895 people arrive in 12 boats.
A child reportedly died off the French coast on Sunday morning while attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat.
It came a day after two women died attempting to cross to the UK in a separate incident off the northern coast of France.
According to the Nord Littoral website, an investigation was launched into the latest death which happened at about 6.30am on Sunday at Ecault beach, in Saint-Etienne-au-Mont.
It also said 48 migrants were cared for by emergency services but the boat carried on across the Channel.
Cecile Gressier, the prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer, told the local media website: “An investigation has been opened to determine the conditions of death. The age and nationality of the victim are not determined.”
The deaths of the two women, reported to be from Somalia, happened after about 100 people had left northern France for the UK in a makeshift boat overnight on Friday into Saturday, French media said.
Around 60 people were rescued from the overnight incident and a couple and their child with moderate hypothermia were taken to a hospital in Boulogne, the reports said.
The incident happened south of the Neufchatel-Hardelot beaches between Boulogne and Le Touquet.
French newspaper La Voix Du Nord said the two women were at least the 20th Channel crossings deaths so far this year.
Last year, 50 people died while trying to cross the Channel, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard, in what is considered the deadliest year since the crisis unfolded.
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