What's Labour going to do about small boat crossings?

A warm bank holiday weekend with placid seas around the British Isles should be jolly good news all round, but for government ministers there is the downside that the number of irregular migrants making the crossing from France will break new records.

- SEAN O'GRADY

That would be news at any time – but with not much else going on politically, the effects will be amplified. The local elections in parts of England are only about a fortnight away, and only one party does well out of the migration issue...

How’s it going in the Channel?

Busy. Tuesday saw a record number of refugees, asylum seekers and other irregular migrants make the journey in a single day – 705 in 12 boats, encouraged by the favourable weather. That brings the total number of people to have crossed the Channel via small boat to 8,888 thus far in 2025, up 42 per cent on the comparable figure for last year.

Is it a record?

For the sea crossings, it’s the highest since 2018. Figures may be up significantly on 2024, but don’t forget that the crossings by small vessel basically replaced the previous favoured mode, which was hiding in vans and lorries. Much more effective security at the French Channel ports – and for a time, the effects of the pandemic – diverted migrants to use alternative modes of transport.

What’s the government doing about it?

“Smashing the gangs” is the slogan, and the basis for policy, but thus far it’s had relatively limited success – it is bound to take time for organisations across Europe to track them down, disrupt their activities, and remove the financial incentives for this lucrative trade.

Keir Starmer has also talked about cooperating more with the EU, fast-tracking the asylum claim processing system, and running down the use of hotels, as well as enforcing the law by raiding businesses that use migrant labour – including those that operate as a front, such as some barbers, mini marts and nail bars.