More than 700 people arrive in small boats in a day

The Home Office said 707 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday, the fourth highest daily total so far this year.

The total number of arrivals for 2024 now stands at 24,335. The highest number of people who have made the crossing in a single day was 882 on 18 June.

More than 10,000 people have made the journey across the Channel since Labour won the election in July.

The government said it is making progress in its bid to stop the crossings, having recruited former police chief Martin Hewitt as its new Border Security Commander.

The latest arrivals come just days after the prime minister said he is “not going to put an arbitrary date” on stopping the small boat Channel crossings.

In an interview with BBC South East, Sir Keir Starmer said he was "absolutely determined" to tackle the smuggling gangs who facilitated the crossings, but would not commit to a timeframe for doing that.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the government will be working with European police forces to try and stop small boat crossings.

The prime minister recently discussed the issue with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."

On 15 September, eight people died when a small boat carrying 60 people got into difficulty off the coast of France. Forty-five people have died making the crossing in 2024.

The previous Conservative government made stopping the boats a central pledge, but the Labour government stopped short of saying the same.

During his visit to Rome, Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very interested” in Italy’s efforts to curb levels of irregular immigration.

The “dramatic reductions” in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Italy is something the UK government wants to understand, he added.

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