Rough sea no deterrent as 50,000th arrival reaches our shore since Labour won power

THIS is the moment a migrant dinghy defied “rough” conditions in the Channel as it headed to the UK.

- By Michael Knowles

The striking footage shows dozens of men packed together, holding on as their boat rode the waves.

It comes as the number of small boat arrivals under Sir Keir Starmer surged past 50,000.

The Home Office confirmed 474 people arrived on eight boats.

Monday’s video shows young men dangling their legs over the side of the dinghy. Others sat on the flimsy floor of the boat, despite fears it could cause it to collapse and plunge people into the water.

A witness said: “We could see the UK Border Force boat waiting on the border line. It had been waiting for over an hour as the dinghy made slow progress through the rough sea.

“Once it got close, we could see that many of the people on board were young men and had no lifejackets.