How do the numbers stack up on small boat arrivals?

Small boat arrivals across the Channel were lower last month than in any August since 2019. On the face of it, this looks like some rare good news for the home secretary, at a time when the use of hotels to house asylum seekers has become a major national issue. But how good is the news really?

- MARY DEJEVSKY

What are the actual numbers?

This August, 55 small boats crossed the Channel, compared to 75 in the same month in 2024; it was the lowest August figure since 2019. But the actual picture is a bit more complicated. There were fewer boats, but the boats tended to be bigger, with more people crammed onto them, so while the figure of arrivals was also down to 3,500, from 4,149 — it was not down by as much as the fall in boat numbers might suggest.

Why have the Channel crossings fallen?

Labour would have us believe it is largely due to measures it has taken to “smash the gangs” and increase cooperation with the French. Again, there may be some truth in this. The National Crime Agency claims it has disrupted a record 347 people-smuggling gangs (though that can cover a very wide definition), 25 people have had their assets frozen under new legal provisions as suspected smugglers, and there have been periodic signs, such as the one occasion French police were filmed slashing an inflatable boat, that the French might be taking a more proactive stance. Britain has also persuaded countries such as Germany to act against those found to be storing or transporting boats that could be used in Channel smuggling.