Can you accurately guess how many small boat migrants have arrived in the UK since Keir Starmer became PM? Draw a line on our chart and find out_Nhy
The unrelenting flow of small boats into Britain is laid bare by MailOnline’s data tracker, which allows you to guess how many migrants have arrived since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.
Labour’s promise to smash the gangs trafficking migrants across the English Channel has so far failed.
Pressure is now mounting on Sir Keir to get a grip on the crisis, which shows no sign of slowing down.
Home Office and the Ministry of Defence officials began tracking the arrivals of small boats in 2018. Updates are now issued every day.
Before 2018, Britain’s anti-immigration efforts were typically focused on migrants who attempted to hide within containers or slip inside lorries approaching Calais, home of the infamous ‘jungle’.
However, the increasing use of X-ray scanners and carbon dioxide detectors made this crossing more difficult.
Gangs, therefore, pivoted to small boats – typically inflatables with an outboard motor.
Nowadays they can be crammed full of more than 60 migrants at a time.
Under Theresa May‘s government, the numbers making the perilous crossing was a trickle, with just 299 people on board 43 boats – an average of almost seven people a crossing – during 2018.
By the time Mrs May stood down to be replaced by Boris Johnson in July 2019, 569 people had arrived in the UK through this route.
Numbers quickly ramped up, with 2022 proving to be a record year for small boat arrivals.
Despite promises to solve the crisis once and for all, Sir Keir has seen the trend continue.
More than 13,600 migrants arrived during his first 100 days in office, according to Home Office statistics.