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People walk into the sea as they prepare to board a migrant dinghy yesterday in Gravelines, France. The numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats is up roughly 40% on last year.
Carl Court via Getty Images
A cabinet minister has admitted “Britain has lost control of its borders” after hundreds more asylum seekers crossed the English Channel.
Figures released by the Home Office revealed that 1,194 people made the perilous journey on 18 small boats on Saturday, the highest number for a single day this year.
The total number who have crossed the Channel is up around 40% compared to the same time last year.
The figures are a huge blow to Keir Starmer, who pledged to “smash the gangs” trafficking asylum seekers to the UK.
Defence secretary John Healey said it was “pretty shocking” to see footage of French officials doing nothing to stop the migrants getting on board the vessels.
He told Sky News: “Britain has lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.
“I think yesterday tells us a really big problem, which is you’ve got French police unable to intervene and intercept the boats when they’re in shallow waters. We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming round like a taxi to pick them up.”
Healey insisted the government had reached an agreement with the French authorities which will see them intervene when the asylum seekers are still in shallow waters in future.
“That will help to make a difference to what we saw yesterday,” he said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was “a day of shame for Labour”.
He said: “Over a thousand illegal immigrants in a single day, boats flooding the Channel, Border Force stretched beyond breaking point, and even fishing vessels drafted in because our maritime rescue services are overwhelmed.
“A nation reduced to chaos on the high seas while Keir Starmer hides behind platitudes and process.
“Labour has completely lost control of our borders. Their pledge to smash gangs in tatters. They scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even began and now the boats won’t stop coming.
“So far, this is already the worst year on record. Labour have failed on every front, and Britain is paying the price. This is a day of shame for Labour.”
