Hundreds of migrants crossed the English Channel on Saturday – just days after Keir Starmer‘s crackdown was said to be ‘in tatters’.
The new arrivals came over in seven small boats, bringing the total number over the past three days to 1,772 and the grand total for this year so far up to 38,726.
This compares with 32,119 who made the journey by the same date last year, and 26,699 in 2023.
A total of 503 asylum seekers travelled to Britain yesterday from France despite the Prime Minister’s warning anyone who returned to the UK would be swiftly sent back under the ‘one in, one out’ deal.
Emmanuel Macron is said to be ditching an agreement to intercept boats that would see more forceful interventions to stop dinghies leaving shore.
Sources claimed the idea was only a ‘political stunt’, adding that it had been abandoned.
More people were photographed in Dover today as they were brought ashore on a Border Force vessel while wearing lifejackets, with some wrapped in blankets.
It comes after Sir Keir and Mr Macron held a summit in July on ways to tackle the Channel crisis.
A group of people are pictured as they are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel
A total of 503 asylum seekers travelled to Britain yesterday from France despite the Prime Minister’s warning anyone who returned to the UK would be swiftly sent back
Hundreds of migrants crossed the English Channel on Saturday – just days after Keir Starmer’s crackdown was said to be ‘in tatters’
They discussed how to intercept so-called ‘taxi boats’ used by people smugglers to cruise close to the coastline, collecting passengers as they waded in.
Footage at the time showing French officers slashing a dinghy as it tried to depart was hailed as a ‘a really significant moment’ by Downing Street.
The French interior ministry signalled that ‘interventions at sea’ would be starting. But since then Mr Macron’s administration has been plunged into a political crisis, with his interior minister ousted.
One figure closely linked to French maritime security told the BBC that the concept was unlikely to be implemented.
‘It’s just a political stunt. It’s much blah-blah,’ they said.
Peter Walsh, who researches the issue at Oxford’s Migration Observatory, added: ‘It’s possible that might never happen.’
Speaking to ITV Meridian on a visit to Peacehaven last month, the Prime Minister was pressed on whether the Government’s approach to stopping small boats was ‘in tatters’.
Sir Keir said ‘no’.
Sir Keir and Mr Macron held a summit in July on ways to tackle the Channel crisis. They are pictured together last month
The arrivals in the Kent port today come as Shabana Mahmood is due to announce a major shake-up of Britain’s immigration rules in the coming weeks, with changes modelled on the Danish system.
The Home Secretary sent officials to Denmark last month to study its border control and asylum policies, which are seen as some of the toughest in Europe.
Its tighter rules on family reunions and restricting some refugees to a temporary stay are among the policies being looked at.
Ms Mahmood has said she wants deterrents in place to stop people seeking to enter the UK via unauthorised routes, while making it easier to remove those who are found to have no right to stay.
Sources said she was eager to meet Danish immigration minister Rasmus Stoklund as soon as possible.