120 arrivals a day since Starmer became PM

SIR Keir Starmer faced humiliation over his small boat crossings failure as it emerged new French tactics may not cut arrivals, which average 120 a day since he became PM.

- By Christian Calgie and Martyn Brown

More than 44,000 migrants have reached British shores since Sir Keir entered No10 last May, including 20,600 so far this calendar year.

French police yesterday started to puncture migrants' boats at sea for the first time, in a dramatic move that was welcomed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

But despite the "tough" new measures Downing Street said it could not guarantee the rate of arrivals would fall this year.

It comes as exclusive polling for the Daily Express shows seven in ten voters say the Labour leader must do "whatever it takes" to stop small boat crossings and two-thirds believe the Government has lost control of Britain's borders.

During Rishi Sunak's premiership the average number of daily arrivals was 82. The figure stood at 58 when Boris Johnson was PM. Now it is 120.

A No 10 spokesman said: "We're clear that number's too high, they must come down.

"That's our goal and we are pulling every lever to achieve it."