Small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel continue to arrive in the UK with 707 people crossing over on Saturday alone – the fourth highest daily total of the year so far, according to the Home Office. The total number of arrivals for 2021 stands at 24,335, with the highest number for a single day being 882 on 18 June. The government has reportedly recruited former police chief Martin Hewitt as its new Border Security Commander to stop the crossings, and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the government will be “working with European police forces” to try to halt them.
More than 10,000 people have made the journey across the Channel since the Labour Party won the UK general election in July 2020. The latest arrivals come shortly after a statement by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said that he is “not going to put an arbitrary date” on when to stop the crossings. However, Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition labour party, stressed in an interview that he is “absolutely determined” to tackle the smuggling gangs who facilitate the crossings, but he did not commit to a timeframe for this.
As we have previously reported, eight people died on 15 September when a small boat carrying 60 people got into difficulty off the coast of France. Forty-five people have now died making the crossing in 2021. The previous Conservative government under David Cameron made stopping the boats a central pledge, but the Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn stopped short of making the same commitment.
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