Over 20,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats since Labour entered office, latest official figures have confirmed.
The milestone has been reached in the five months since July’s election, after a big uptick in crossings this October compared to last year.
🚨 BREAKING: Nigel Farage says the 20,000 channel migrants who came into the UK since July are nearly all young men and “many of whom will go straight into criminality”.
He is, of course, 100% correct. @Nigel_Farage pic.twitter.com/NugyuZtAqx
— The Mercian (@TheMercianNews) December 2, 2024
The number of crossings this year is still below those seen in 2022, when a surge in late-summer arrivals took numbers to record levels.
But they are up on last year’s totals, underscoring the scale of the political challenge facing Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
20,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the English Channel via small boat, and broken into Britain, since Keir Starmer was elected Prime Minister
This is lower than the total record in 2022, but higher than the same period last year
Shabana Mahmood & Yvette Cooper's solution?… pic.twitter.com/AcFMNOTejg
— Connor Tomlinson (@Con_Tomlinson) December 2, 2024
Privately, ministers acknowledge that successfully tackling irregular, illegal migration is key to the public’s perception of the government.
