A record number of migrants crossed the English Channel on Sunday, delivering the highest single-day total since left-wing Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gained office with a vow to end the illicit human trade.
Some 703 people arrived 11 boats in the 24-hour stretch, according to provisional interior ministry figures as seen by AFP, as elsewhere Starmer commits to a crackdown on hurtful words on social media and a Covid-era government spy team monitoring the public for “disinformation” has been brought back.
Two illegal boat migrants died in the same period after setting sail from the beaches of France in an unstable dinghy provided by people smugglers, as Breitbart News reported.
French authorities are said to be leading the investigation into the deaths.
A total of 25 migrants have now lost their lives in the Channel while trying to reach British shores since the start of the year.
The number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at 18,342.
The Daily Telegraph reports this is 13 percent higher than the total at the same time last year, which was 16,170, but 3 per cent lower than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 18,978.
Stopping the small boat arrivals was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July however within days of taking power, Starmer scrapped a scheme to deport migrants to Rwanda.
The plan was a flagship policy of the last Conservative government.
Instead Starmer promised in a keynote speech to end the Conservatives’ “talk tough, do nothing” approach to Channel crossings.
He pledged to dismantle the people smuggling gangs who organise the crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant, however his government is yet to reveal any details about exactly how it will act to close the porous maritime border with France.
The government’s only commitment has been to create a Border Security Command, which would feature hundreds of new specialist investigators. Counter-terror powers are also being used in an attempt to smash the people smuggling gangs.
It is being funded by £75 million saved from scrapping the Rwanda scheme.