Chaos on the Channel: Record small boat figures for the year as nearly 800 arrive on a single day

Nearly 800 small boat migrants reached Britain yesterday – the largest number seen in a single day so far this year.

The Home Office confirmed 781 migrants arrived on Wednesday, beating the previous high for this year of 752 on July 29. 

It means 1,085 migrants reached Britain across the Channel in the first three days of this week. 

The figures are embarrassing for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who claimed only three weeks ago that Labour’s tactics in the Channel had begun to work.

On September 2 she said: ‘We are boosting officer numbers to record highs to crack down on small boat launches and the gangs behind them. This work is bearing fruit.’

The 781 arrivals were more than five times the average number seen on a ‘red day’ – when weather conditions and other factors make Channel crossings more likely – in the first eight months of this year.

Just two weeks ago the Home Office published statistics trumpeting the fall in numbers on ‘red days. It said that from January 1 to the end of August the average number of crossings on a red day had fallen ‘significantly’ to 144 per day.

Yet in the wake of the latest figures the Government insisted its success in tackling the Channel crisis was ‘indisputable’. 

A spokesman said: ‘Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable – with crossings down by 42 per cent and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.

‘But this week’s events show that while the peaks we are seeing are far below those of previous years, we need to push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.’

On Wednesday ten small boats reached British shores, picked up at the mid-point of the Channel and ferried to Dover by UK Border Force.

The surge in crossings may indicate that people-trafficking gangs are no longer experiencing problems obtaining dinghies and other maritime equipment such as outboard motors, after a law enforcement crackdown restricted supply routes. 

This week has also witnessed two ‘uncontrolled landings’ in which migrant boats reach the UK without being intercepted by the authorities.

In a chaotic 48 hours on the Channel, up to 30 migrants reached a Kent beach by dinghy on Tuesday before police reached the scene.

Officials confirmed 21 people were detained and taken to a Home Office facility, where they will be processed ahead of lodging asylum claims in Britain.

It came just a day after up to seven migrants reached another location in Kent without being intercepted

And in further chaotic scenes a dinghy launched from near Bayeux, in Normandy, made a record 38-hour voyage.

They launched just before 10am on Monday and, on Tuesday afternoon were picked up by RNLI lifeboats and later transferred to a Border Force cutter.

The 51 migrants aboard were eventually brought ashore to Dover in the early hours of Wednesday.

Labour scrapped the Conservatives’ Rwanda asylum deal as one of its first acts in office in 2024.

Instead, the Government has insisted it can tackle the Channel crisis by increasing law enforcement activities both here and on the Continent.

Ms Mahmood signed a new £662million, three-year deal with the French government in April which was designed to improve French beach patrols and prevent crossings.

But critics have said the deal does not provide the British taxpayer with value for money and French gendarmes have been seen failing to intervene as dinghies launch towards Britain.

Wednesday’s 781 arrivals was the highest daily total since December 20, when 803 reached the UK.

The all-time record arrivals day was 1,305 on September 3, 2022.