More migrants have illegally crossed the English Channel since 1 January than in any previous year for this period. So far in 2025, 1,344 migrants were detected crossing the Channel in small boats between 1 January and 4 February, beating the previous record of 1,339 in 2022.
The figures published by Border Force – and tracked daily by The Spectator’s data hub – put paid to Keir Starmer's promise to ‘smash the gangs’. A key part of Labour’s manifesto – and one of Starmer’s ‘first steps’ – was to ‘create a fair system and stop the small boat crossings’. Since Starmer took office last July, there have been 24,586 migrant crossings.
The news comes despite storm Éowyn and dangerous conditions in the Channel in recent weeks. This weekend alone, almost 200 people in four boats were detected making the crossing. Analysis by Sky News shows that last year some 40 per cent of crossings occurred on weekends, possibly due to relaxed French working attitudes on Saturdays and Sundays.
The 'small boats' are now not so small either. Exclusive analysis by The Spectator’s data hub shows that the average number of migrants cramming into each boat has soared since 2019. When the figures were first collected the average per boat was eight – it’s now over 50.
Starmer has promised sanctions and counter terror-style powers to smash the gangs, but every Prime Minister of the last few years has made similar promises. The truth is that, unless the migrants are stopped from leaving the French side, it’s hard to see how these numbers will ever go down.
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