Labour says small-boat plan 'starting to have an impact'

Government claims its efforts to stop smugglers are working

- MILLIE COOKE

Labour claims it has broken the link between favourable weather conditions and an influx of migrant crossings, as the government embarks on its mission to crack down on illegal migration to the UK.

The party’s analysis of small-boat crossings indicates that people-smugglers are showing signs of being put off crossing on “red days” – when low wind and calm waters make it easier to cross the Channel.

The analysis comes despite there having been a higher number of days with calmer conditions in the six months since the party took power than during the same period in both 2023 and 2022. The average number of arrivals per “red day” was 262.8 from July to 23 December 2024, compared with 360.8 in the final six months of last year, 383.8 in 2022, and 286.2 in 2021.

Labour Party insiders claimed that the figures show it has broken the link between better weather and more migrant crossings, adding that the government’s strategy is “designed to ensure that the UK’s border security is no longer at the mercy of either the weather conditions or the smuggling gangs, as it has been since the crossings began in 2018”.