Record 20,000 make small- boat Channel crossings in first six months of the year

A record number of people have crossed the Channel in small boats in the first six months of this year, figures reveal, despite Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash” the smuggling gangs.

- MILLIE COOKE DAVID MADDOX

Just days before the prime minister marks one year in office, data from the Home Office shows a total of 19,982 people have arrived in the UK since the start of 2025 - the highest total for the halfway point of the year since data was first collected on migrant crossings in 2018.

The prime minister has been struggling to bring down both the number of boat crossings and the amount of money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels across the UK. But he has also faced criticism from left-wing Labour MPs and refugee charities, who have accused Sir Keir of attempting to copy Reform UK’s inflammatory rhetoric.

On Monday, some 879 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, provisional Home Office data showed - the third highest number of arrivals on a single day so far this year. The total for 2025 so far is 48 per cent higher than the figure for the first six months of 2024, which was 13,489, and 75 per cent higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.

There were 13 boats that arrived on Monday, which suggests an average of around 68 people per boat.