PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “losing control” over illegal migration after more than 1,000 people crossed the Channel on small boats yesterday.
French police watched on as scores of dinghies, filled with desperate men, women, and children seeking refuge in Britain, left the northern coast of France on Saturday, heading across the water.
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With more than 1,000 making the dangerous journey, yesterday saw the highest daily number of migrant small boat crossings this year.
An estimated 18 boats made their way across the English Channel, helping surpass the previous record this year of 825 people making the crossing, which was set earlier this month.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has criticised the crossings as a “day of shame” for Labour, adding that maritime rescue services had been “overwhelmed” by the number of small boats.
British and French rescue services had to deploy 11 vessels and two aircraft yesterday to assist those making the often dangerous journey across the Channel.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Philp said: “This is a day of shame for the Labour Government.
“Over 1,000 illegal immigrants in a single day, boats flooding the Channel, Border Force stretched beyond breaking point, and even fishing vessels drafted in because our maritime rescue services are overwhelmed.
“A nation reduced to chaos on the high seas while Keir Starmer hides behind platitudes and process.
“Labour has completely lost control of our borders.”
Following yesterday’s crossings, a total of 14,600 people have now traversed the English Channel on small boats this year, seeking a new home in Britain.
That’s around 30 per cent higher than the same time last year, and is the highest total for boat crossings in the first five months of a year since they began in 2018.
It means 2025 could be on course to have the highest number of Channel crossings ever.
Many of these illegal crossings are orchestrated by criminal gangs, leading to overcrowded and unsafe boats.
Just this month, one person tragically died while trying to cross the Channel, while another lost their life in April.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is a UN agency, estimated at least 78 migrants died while making the crossing in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record.
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And, since 2018, at least 225 migrants have lost their lives making the dangerous journey to the UK, according to the IOM.
The prime minister has pledged to “smash the gangs” and reduce the number of small boat crossings, but Philp said this promise was “in tatters”.
He added: “They scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even began, and now the boats won’t stop coming.
“So far, this is already the worst year on record.
“Labour have failed on every front, and they should hang their heads in shame.”
Last year, a total of 36,816 migrants illegally crossed the Channel in small boats, up from 29,437 in 2023.
However, the highest year on record remains 2022, where 45,755 people made the treacherous journey to Britain.
Labour’s vow to ‘smash the gangs’ won’t see Channel migrant numbers fall until NEXT YEAR, sources warn
Labour’s promise to “smash the gangs” will not see Channel migrant numbers fall until at least next year.
Measures to break the route “up stream” by tackling smugglers and boat suppliers will take months to trickle down according to law enforcement sources.
Ministers have been warned good weather this year is also contributing to a surge in crossings that are on course for a record year.
The number of so called “red days” when the calm seas and wind make it perfect to cross have doubled in 2025 so far according to the same point last year.
And intelligence monitoring of the Channel has indicated a rise in migrants from the Horn of Africa has seen riskier and larger crossings attempted.
Those smugglers are cramming more people into boats, which is also pushing up the numbers.
More than 13,000 people have already made the journey this year, putting 2025 on course to have the highest ever number of crossings, since records began in 2017.
Government insiders are highly pessimistic about the prospect of reducing numbers this year.
And they warn that policy changes and increase in enforcement measures not noticeably pay off until 2026 due to the high numbers of migrants already in France and ready to attempt the perilous journey.
Speaking on the number of crossings yesterday, Defence Secretary John Healey criticised the previous Tory government for “losing control of the borders”.
“Truth is, Britain’s lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration,” Mr Healey told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News.
He added that it was “pretty shocking” seeing smugglers coming round “like a taxi” to pick people up and bring them to the UK while French police watched on.
The defence secretary explained it was a “really big problem” that cops in France were unable to intervene to intercept boats in shallow waters.
However, he said the government was pressing for authorities in France to put in new rules so that they could reduce the number of boats making the dangerous journey.
Mr Healey explained: “They’re not doing it, but, but for the first time for years, for the first time, we’ve got the level of cooperation needed.
“We’ve got the agreement that they will change the way they work, and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said previously that gangs had been taking advantage of calmer weather days to try and make crossings.
In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Ms Cooper said: “The really unacceptable situation we’re in is because of the way the criminal gangs have taken hold, our border security ends up being dependent on the weather.
“We cannot continue like this, where the number of calm days affects the number of crossings.”
Ms Cooper insisted “only a coordinated international response” across the whole migration route could effectively end the reign of the people smugglers.
She however admitted that the situation was unacceptable and could not continue.
