50,000 migrants have crossed Channel on small boats since Labour took power

More than 50,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since Labour won the 2024 general election.

Home Office figures show 474 migrants arrived by small boat on Monday alone.

Labour former home secretary Baroness Smith of Malvern had said earlier on Tuesday that reaching the milestone is “unacceptable”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour’s promise to “smash the criminal boat gangs” in its manifesto last year was “just a slogan”, with crossings now “so much worse” than they were before the vote.

There have been 27,029 arrivals so far this year, which is 47% higher than at the same point of 2024 when the figure stood at 18,342, and 67% higher than at the same time in 2023 (16,170).

Baroness Smith, who is now an education and women and equalities minister, warned: “Criminal gangs have got an absolute foothold in the tragic trafficking of people across the Channel.”

She told BBC Breakfast: “It is an unacceptable number of people.”

The minister also told Times Radio: “We have taken a lot of important action already, but what we’re facing is a criminal endeavour which has got long roots into the ground, I’m afraid, because it hasn’t been tackled by the last government over recent years.

“That’s why we need the action we’ve already taken to increase the speed with which we make asylum decisions, to remove more people from this country, the groundbreaking deal that we now have with the French, and we’ve already detained people who’ve come to the country.”

Earlier this month, the Government began detaining migrants under a new “one in, one out” deal with France.

UK officials aim to make referrals for returns to France within three days of a migrant’s arrival by small boat, while French authorities will respond within 14 days.

An approved asylum seeker in France will be brought to the UK under a safe route as part of the exchange.

Speaking on the Isle of Wight, Mrs Badenoch said: “Labour’s plan to smash the gangs was just a slogan. Things are so much worse since Labour came into office, they have no plans.

“Their one in, one out scheme isn’t going to work, and what we’re seeing is a lot of local communities having to pay the price and bear the brunt of the Government’s incompetence.”

Asked if the Conservatives could reduce the number of crossings from five figures to zero, Mrs Badenoch replied: “I think that we can.”

She added that “it wouldn’t happen straight away, but it would happen quickly”.

Mrs Badenoch said: “My team are now looking at what we can do in terms of detention centres, but 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.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer entered No 10 on July 5 last year, having secured a Labour victory with 412 Commons seats, ending 14 years in government for the Conservatives, who won 121.