More than 10,000 people have crossed Channel in small boats so far in 2023

More than 10,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year, including a substantial jump in arrivals in recent days.

Some 486 people made the crossing on Friday, with a further 374 on Saturday, official Home Office figures show.

Seven boats were detected on Saturday, which suggests an average of around 53 people crossed the Channel per boat.

The provisional total for 2023 now stands at 10,139, according to the latest data. Throughout the whole of 2022 there were 45,755 crossings.

Crossings have picked up after a quiet spell earlier this month, with 2,529 people reported to have arrived between June 10 and 17.

This includes 549 crossings on Sunday, June 11, the highest number on a single day so far this year.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping crossings by small boats one of his top priorities for the year, along with cutting NHS waiting lists, growing the economy, halving inflation and reducing the national debt.

However, opposition MPs have said the current figures on Channel crossings shows his strategy isn't working, although the number so far this year is less than at the same point of 2022.

More than 11,300 crossings had been detected by June 17 last year – over 1,000 higher than the 10,139 detected so far in 2023.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These figures show the dismal failure of all the Prime Minister’s boasts of progress on small boats, and follow a week of damning official reports on the surging backlog, spiralling hotel costs and failing border security.

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“Rishi Sunak’s small boats plan is disintegrating before the public’s eyes, and he has no idea of how to turn it around.

“Labour has a serious plan to fix the Tories small boats chaos, fast-tracking safe countries’ cases to clear the backlog and end hotel use and setting up a cross-border police unit to stop people smuggler gangs.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.

“Our priority is to stop the boats, and our Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.

“The government has gone further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.”