GB News was halted for a major breaking news announcement in a major blow to Keir Starmer, as it has been confirmed that the number of small boat migrants reaching the UK this year has passed 10,000 already. This huge number has been met weeks earlier than 2024, as GB News reporter Sam Francis said it was a “blow to Keir Starmer‘s pledge to smash the gangs”.

He continued: “Five boats landed today along with the border force vessel Hurricane bringing them into Dover this morning,” with 71 migrants disembarking. This follows 245 migrants who made the illegal journey on Sunday. The channel’s Home and Security Editor Mark White said that the flat and calm water of the English Channel was sparking the rise in crossings, with “more crossings to be expected over the next 48 hours”.

2025 is said to be the “worst year in history for illegal channel crossings” by Shadow minister Chris Philp, as he blamed the Labour party’s decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme, calling the numbers “worse than ever”.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

“That’s why this government is investing in border security, increasing returns to their highest levels for more than half a decade, and imposing a major crackdown on illegal working to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats.

“We have already secured agreement from the French to deploy a new elite unit of officers at the coast, launch a specialist intelligence unit, increase police numbers and introduce new powers for the French authorities to intervene in shallow waters.”