More than 500 migrants use calm seas to sail to Britain – as Keir Starmer unveiled immigration crackdown
MORE than 500 migrants used calm seas yesterday to head to Britain — as the PM insisted he was taking back control of our borders.
It means at least 12,000 have now crossed the Channel on small boats this year, taking the gloss off Sir Keir Starmer’s clampdown pledges.
And it sets 2025 on course to be a record year of crossings despite the Government’s vow to smash the people-smuggling gangs.
The PM was addressing the nation in an early-morning press conference about getting to grips with immigration as footage showed scores of young men arriving at Dover after days of good weather sent numbers rocketing.
Sir Keir told reporters “nobody should be getting on a small boat to cross the Channel” — at the same time as migrants were snapped celebrating their arrival while being bussed to taxpayer-funded accommodation.
Later, Nigel Farage shared a video of masked male migrants, some sporting Palestine colours, giving the thumbs-up on TikTok as they departed Calais early yesterday.
The Reform leader said the footage was shared this morning from the French coast on the social media site used by smugglers to tout for business.
He raged: “Whilst Keir Starmer was making promises he can’t keep in London, here were the scenes in Calais and Dover this morning.”
At least another 500 arrived in the UK yesterday on six boats — as one man died making the dangerous cross-Channel journey.
Calm seas prompted the surge in those attempting the treacherous 21-mile trip to Dover.
They wore lifejackets while disembarking from Border Force vessels before being escorted to an immigration processing centre.
Buses were parked there, waiting to drive the arrivals to hotels.
About 300 touched down on UK soil throughout the morning in three boats arriving every hour between 7.30am and 9.30am.
A fourth boatload was spotted at 12.45pm — before a fifth dinghy was brought in at 1.15pm and a sixth inflatable arrived at 1.35pm.
Another 70 migrants were brought into Dover by a Border Force vessel at 3pm after a seventh small boat was intercepted.
Four Border Force boats were involved in rescuing the migrants in the Dover Strait.
An unidentified man, whose name and age is not known, died and seven others were injured when a fire broke out on one small boat.