“Record numbers of migrants cross the Channel under Prime Minister Keir Starmer”

The latest stats come after Downing Street said this week that Britain should ‘expect’ more boat crossings this summer.

Stopping the small boat arrivals was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July and the PM had promised to ‘smash the gangs’ responsible for the crossings.

Sir Keir’s spokesman admitted on Monday, the hottest day of the year so far, that the warm weather meant officials were expecting more crossings over the coming weeks.

Asked whether Labour was failing to stop the boats as effectively as the previous Tory administration, the spokesman said: ‘I wouldn’t agree with that.

‘We know this summer is a challenging time and we expect to see increases before we see improvements in line with that.

‘We know that it’s in these months that criminal gangs seek to exploit people, taking ever more dangerous tactics and approaches. That’s why it’s vital that we work to smash the gangs responsible for that and who are risking lives in the Channel.’

Sir Keir’s (pictured) spokesman admitted on Monday, the hottest day of the year so far, that the warm weather meant officials were expecting more crossings over the coming weeks

Sir Keir’ (pictured) spokesman admitted on Monday, the hottest day of the year so far, that the warm weather meant officials were expecting more crossings over the coming weeks

Stopping the small boat arrivals was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July

Stopping the small boat arrivals was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July

The PM’s plan involves creating a new Border Security Command, bringing together existing immigration units given new ‘counter-terrorism style’ powers (File image)

The PM’s plan involves creating a new Border Security Command, bringing together existing immigration units given new ‘counter-terrorism style’ powers

Sir Keir and France’s President Emmanuel Macron have pledged to strengthen ‘cooperation’ in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

The PM’s plan involves creating a new Border Security Command, bringing together existing immigration units given new ‘counter-terrorism style’ powers.

Two migrants dead after small boat carrying more than 50 got into difficulty in the English Channel

The spokesman could not put a time or date on when the new PM’s plan will start to work.

He also denied that scrapping the Rwanda scheme had made the situation worse, saying there was ‘no link’ between ditching the plan and the number of arrivals.

‘Our focus is actually on getting an immigration system working that can process cases and bear down on the gangs that are driving this,’ the spokesman said.

Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly has accused Labour of sending ‘the wrong signal’ by ditching the previous Tory government’s Rwanda proposals – after figures showed small boat crossings had topped 18,000 for this year.

The former minister and Conservative leadership hopeful said the numbers showed the Government’s ‘phantom border command clearly isn’t working’.

Mr Cleverly said: ‘Since Labour have ditched our deterrent, more and more boats are crossing the channel with more and more people in them.

‘They’ve sent the wrong signal, throwing the doors open instead of doing what is necessary to stop the dangerous crossings.

‘The Government’s phantom border command clearly isn’t working. They need to get a grip and fast, otherwise the numbers will continue to climb.’

The highest number of arrivals recorded in a single day so far this year was 882 on June 18 and the second highest was 711 on May 1, both under the previous government prior to the general election.

The running tally is up by 13 per cent on the same point last year but three per cent lower than at this stage in 2022 which would see an annual record of 45,000 arrivals.

At the end of 2018 the then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared a ‘national emergency’ as migrant boats began to cross from continental Europe.

Since then, more than 132,000 migrants have reached Britain.

Meanwhile, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch has published a report into the sinking of a migrant boat in the Channel that claimed at least eight lives on December 14, 2022. It found the dinghy was ‘wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped for the crossing attempt’.

The vessel suffered ‘structural failure and many of the migrants entered the water’.

Some 39 of the people were rescued by fishing vessels plus search and rescue personnel.

The bodies of four victims were recovered to the UK and the other four were lost at sea.

The MAIB report said: ‘The occupants’ only method of raising the alarm was via mobile phone.’

All occupants of the boat were male and aged between 13 and 35, from a mixture of nationalities including Afghan, Sudanese, Indian and Albanian.

Ruthless people-trafficking gangs have been packing more and more migrants into unsuitable vessels.

The National Crime Agency’s annual threat assessment, which was published yesterday, said that the average number of people per boat increased from 41 in 2022 to 49 last year..

The report stated that, despite a one-third fall in the number of irregular migrants last year, it is ‘highly likely the threat from organised immigration crime has increased going into 2024’