Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh humiliation over his record on the Channel small boats crisis. The Labour leader is on the brink of having the worst record out of any other British Prime Minister on the arrival of small boats.
It comes following recent criticism of the PM's flagship 'one-in-one-out' deal with Emmanuel Macron after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood last month admitted the Government had taken in more people from France than have been deported. New figures show 65,703 migrants have arrived since Sir Keir entered Number 10 in July 2024. This is close to the amount seen under former Tory PM Boris Johnson.
There were 65,811 migrants who arrived in the UK on small boats during Mr Johnson's premiership, however this figure was reached over a period of three years, reports The Sun.
Crossings via small boats in the Channel hit 41,474 in 2024, while there were 23,424 as Labour took power.
On Monday, migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel for the first time in 13 days.
Last month 954 migrants arrived after making the journey - the lowest January figure in five years and also 15% down on the 1,098 arrivals recorded in January 2025, and 30% below the figure for January 2024, when there were 1,335 arrivals.
Bad weather in the region, including last week's Storm Chandra, is likely to have put people off from attempting the journey.
It comes as a Home Office crackdown on adverts telling migrants how to circumvent immigration checks comes into force.
Social media users who tout illegal routes into the UK face up to five years in prison starting on Monday, after the Government activated part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.
Border security minister Alex Norris said his message to people smugglers is: "We are coming after you."
The Government is continuing its effort to clamp down on people-smuggling gangs and others helping migrants to make the journey.
The PM announced during his trip to China that he had negotiated a deal with the Chinese authorities aimed at preventing boat motors made in the country from ending up in the hands of people smugglers.
Some 60% of the boats which crossed the Channel last year had motors made in China.
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