More small boat migrants have reached Britain since Labour took over in July than entered under the Tory government this year_Nhy
More small boat migrants have reached Britain since Labour entered power than under the Conservative government this year.
From the beginning of this year to the general election on July 4, 13,574 people crossed the Channel while the Tories were in power.
But since the beginning of Sir Keir Starmer‘s leadership a further 13,759 people have arrived, Home Office data shows.
The tally under Labour includes one day – October 5 – when there were 973 arrivals in a single 24-hour period, the highest daily total for nearly two years.
The Home Office yesterday confirmed 108 migrants reached the UK on Monday.
From the beginning of this year to the general election on July 4, 13,574 people crossed the Channel while the Tories were in power – compared to 13,759 people under Labour (file pic)
It came after 613 people were intercepted in the Channel and brought to Dover by Border Force officers on Friday and Saturday.
At least 45 people have lost their lives trying to cross the Channel so far this year, making it one of the deadliest on record since the small boat crisis began in 2018.
One of the new Government’s first acts in power was to scrap the Rwanda asylum deal.
The Conservative plan was designed to deter migrant crossings and save lives.
Smugglers are increasingly overloading unsuitable dinghies leading to capsizing and even to migrants being crushed to death during the journey.
Last month former immigration minister Robert Jenrick confirmed dozens of terror suspects have ‘waltzed right in’ to Britain posing as small boat migrants.
Mr Jenrick, one of the final two Tory leadership contenders, said Labour’s scrapping of the Rwanda scheme had put ‘lives at risk’ by leaving the country more open to terrorist attack.
He added that at least 1,000 small boat migrants who arrived in the year before he became immigration minister were ‘connected to criminality’.
Since the start of this year 27,333 migrants have reached the UK by small boat – slightly up on the same point last year.
The tally under Labour includes one day – October 5 – when there were 973 arrivals in a single 24-hour period, the highest daily total for nearly two years. Pictured: A coach carries a group of people thought to be migrants to a processing centre in Manston, Kent (file pic)
However, the total by the end of the year is unlikely to top the record set in 2022 of 45,755.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.
‘We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
‘We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad.
‘Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals.’
