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More than 50,000 people have crossed Channel in small boats since Starmer became PM
More than 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister, according to new figures.
Home Office statistics reveal that 474 people arrived on Monday in eight vessels - the highest number to make the journey in one day in August. Politics Live: Keir Starmer hits unwanted small boat crossings milestone It brings the total to 50,271 since the general election on 4 July 2024.
And it means Sir Keir - who won power promising to "smash the gangs" facilitating the crossings - has reached the 50,000 figure faster than his predecessors, in 402 days. Rishi Sunak was in office for 603 days when he hit the unwanted tally.
It took some 1,066 days under Boris Johnson, though it's worth remembering his tenure covered the COVID pandemic and lockdowns. The Tories' central plan was to deport migrants to Rwanda to claim asylum there, but this failed to get off the ground before they lost the election, despite millions being spent.
One of Sir Keir's first acts as prime minister was to scrap the scheme and divert the money to a new Border Force Command that would focus on dismantling people smuggling gangs. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the rising Channel crossings show this promise was "just a slogan.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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