❓WHAT HAPPENED: The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party came to power has surpassed 50,000, according to Home Office data.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Britain’s Labour government, the formerly governing Conservative Party, illegal immigrants, and people-smuggling gangs.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Between July 5, 2024, and August 11, 2024, across the English Channel.
💬KEY QUOTE: “As I predicted 5 years ago, unless we deport illegal migrants the invasion will be huge. 50,000 since our weak Prime Minister took office and there is no sign of it stopping.” – Reform Party leader Nigel Farage
🎯IMPACT: The milestone highlights ongoing challenges in addressing illegal immigration and the political difficulties faced by the government.
Over 50,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party returned to power last year, according to figures from the British Home Office—roughly equivalent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On August 11 alone, 474 migrants made the illegal journey across the Channel from France, bringing the total since Labour’s July 2024 general election win to 50,271. This figure is 13,925 higher than the total recorded over the same period before Labour regained office.
Responding to the milestone, Baroness Smith, a Labour minister in the Home Office, said the number represented “an unacceptable number of people” but claimed that the government was making progress. “People-smuggling gangs have become increasingly influential in recent years, exploiting vulnerable people and profiting from their desperation,” Smith said.
The surge in small boat arrivals has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the situation “the worst illegal immigration crisis in our history” and accused the government of failing to control the border. “This is a taxpayer-funded ferry service for the people-smuggling trade. Every illegal immigrant should be removed immediately upon arrival,” he said.
However, the Channel crossings began when Philp’s Conservative (Tory) Party was in office and grew progressively worse, with successive Conservative prime ministers showing no signs of making progress on the issue.
“As I predicted 5 years ago, unless we deport illegal migrants the invasion will be huge,” commented Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, who played a large part in exposing the Channel crisis and exposing the role of the French and British authorities in facilitating the crossings. “50,000 since our weak Prime Minister took office and there is no sign of it stopping,” he lamented.
Image by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.
