New 2024 record set as hundreds of migrants cross Channel in a single day
More than 800 people have been detected crossing the English Channel, the highest number on a single day so far this year, according to the Home Office.
Home Office figures say that 882 people made the journey across the Channel in 15 boats, suggesting almost 60 people per boat.
This latest crossing takes the total figure for arrivals this year to a provisional figure of 12,313.
A figure that is 18% higher than this time last year, when almost 10,500 crossings were detected.
Last year, 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
Immigration has long been touted as a key campaign battleground, and served as one of the five pledges that Rishi Sunak said he would deliver while in government.
As it stands, since Rishi Sunak pledged to "stop the boats" when he became PM, the tally for those who have arrived in small boats is now 49,376. And, since calling the General Election, more than 2,000 arrivals have been recorded.
The PM's flagship Rwanda scheme, in which the government pledged to fly people who had arrived illegally to the third-party country, has faced significant backlash and has struggled to limit the number of people making the crossing.
'There are always going to be some days that are worse than others' says the Rishi Sunak as he claims Keir Starmer would turn the UK into the 'soft touch of Europe' and release detained migrants
Rishi Sunak has that there is a clear choice to be made by the British public, and that if that choice is Labour, Sir Keir Starmer will "let out" all of the illegal migrants that have been detained "onto our streets".
He said: "I have a clear answer, and a clear plan."
Labour has promised to scrap the Rwanda scheme and use the money to set up a new “Border Security Command", which would help to prosecute the smuggling gangs.
They also want a deal with the EU to return asylum seekers to EU countries.
The Liberal Democrats would also get rid of the Rwanda policy and instead focus on providing safe and legal routes to the UK.
Other party leaders have rounded on the figures, with Reform's Nigel Farage saying "Rishi can’t stop the boats and Labour don't care.
"This is a national security emergency."
Farage's party has pledged to freeze immigration and impose strict limits on people coming to the UK.
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