More than 50,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since Keir Starmer became prime minister, official figures have confirmed.
Home Office data released on Tuesday showed that 50,271 people, most of whom successfully claimed asylum, have arrived in the UK from France since Labour won the general election in July 2024. A total of 474 people arrived on Monday.
The milestone comes as the issue of irregular migration, and where to house asylum seekers while their claims are being processed, continues to haunt the government.
Starmer came into power 13 months ago careful to avoid repeating the last government’s promise to “stop the boats”. However, the prime minister has promised to “smash the gangs” behind Channel crossings.
But figures show that despite a number of initiatives from the Home Office in conjunction with other European governments, the number of people who arrived in the UK via small boats in the first half of this year was 48% higher than in the same period last year.
Rishi Sunak, the last Conservative prime minister, took 603 days in office to pass the 50,000 milestone, while it took Boris Johnson 1,066 days during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government is increasing its efforts to bring down migration, announcing on Friday that the new “one in, one out” returns deal with France was up and running.
The Home Office has also expanded its “deport now, appeal later” scheme, under which foreign criminals have been deported before their appeals have been heard.
Reports claiming that the 50,000 figure would be reached on Tuesday were “unacceptable”, a government minister said, shortly before the figures were released officially.
Lady Jacqui Smith of Malvern, a former home secretary under Gordon Brown, said it showed how embedded criminal gangs had become under the previous Conservative government.
Official figures from Monday suggested 49,797 people had crossed in small boats from northern France.
She told BBC Breakfast: “It is an unacceptable number of people. It sort of demonstrates the way over the last six or seven years that the criminal gangs have got an absolute foothold in the tragic trafficking of people across the Channel.”
Kemi Badenoch claimed she would reduce the number of boat arrivals to zero “quickly” by reigniting the £700m Rwanda deportation scheme and opening detention centres for asylum seekers.
Addressing journalists on the Isle of Wight, the Conservative leader said: “My team are now looking at what we can do in terms of detention centres, but [also] stopping people from coming here in the first place: if they think they’re going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won’t come here.”
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work until their claims have been considered. Because of an asylum backlog, many have lived in taxpayer-funded hotels for more than a year.
French authorities confirmed a woman died on Monday while trying to board a boat to make the crossing to the UK.
The woman, believed to have been in her 30s, died on Malo beach in Dunkirk, according to the Utopia 56 organisation, which supports displaced migrants at the French border.
The incident happened at about 4am on Monday , according to local media. French authorities said she died despite resuscitation efforts from emergency services at the scene on the French coast.
The Home Office said it was aware of the incident but would not be commenting further.
According to the International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, at least 20 people have died this year attempting to cross the Channel.
