Migrants racing for boats to Britain

DESPERATE migrants sprint into the sea to board a Britain-bound dinghy as the shocking scale of the small boats crisis was laid bare yesterday.

- By Martyn Brown Political Editor

Dozens of people were filmed running and wading through the shallows in northern France before setting off across the English Channel by boat.

The extraordinary scenes came as Sir Keir Starmer announced his latest attempt to curb arrivals.

And the United Nations said the UK will have Europe's biggest "population boom" this century because of mass migration.

Sir Keir said a new deal with Germany will help "smash" people smuggling gangs.

The Prime Minister and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sealed the "friendship treaty", which includes a pledge by Germany to make people smuggling to Britain a criminal offence by the end of the year.

It comes a week after Sir Keir struck a "one in, one out" migrant return deal with French president Emmanuel Macron.

The small boats, which have crossed in record numbers this year, embark on their voyage to Britain from French beaches. However,

Germany is a transit country for migrants hoping to reach Britain and has emerged as a storage hub for boats, engines and life jackets used by gangs.

Under German law, people smuggling into non-EU countries is currently not a crime.

Sir Keir is under massive pressure to curb the number of migrant crossings, which is at record pace this year with more than 22,000 arrivals so far.

There have been more than 44,000 in the 12 months since Labour came to power, and 2,500 in July alone.