Migrant Channel crossings since Labour election victory top 1,000

More than 1,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister , as the Government warned of a “difficult summer ahead”.

Home Office figures show 427 people made the journey in seven boats on Monday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 14,759.

It means the number of arrivals recorded since Sir Keir took office on July 5 in the wake of Labour’s election victory now stands at 1,185.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that Channel crossings were at a record high in the first half of the year and indicated a “difficult summer ahead”, according to Downing Street.

The total number of crossings for 2024 to date is 12% higher than the number recorded this time last year (13,200) and up 1% on the same period in 2022 (14,554), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

Last year, 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK after making the journey, down 36% on a record 45,774 in 2022.

Tackling illegal migration was an “important part of our European reset”, where the Government is working with European bodies, including Europol, to tackle criminal gang networks and work to disrupt supply chains, Ms Cooper told ministers.

It comes after the Prime Minister last week warned the number of crossings “can’t be changed overnight” and acknowledged the situation may get worse before it gets better.

On Friday, Ms Cooper described the deaths of four migrants in the Channel as “truly awful” after they ended up in the water off the northern French coast near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the early hours of the morning when their boat capsized.

The Home Office said: “Everyone wants to see an end to the dangerous small boat crossings. They are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk.

“We are taking action to smash the people smuggling gangs responsible for this trade, establishing a new Border Security Command to bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas.

“Our staff continue with their dedicated mission to save lives in the Channel whilst working with our French and other international partners to ensure the criminals responsible face the full extent of the law.”