Exclusive: The French had to scramble a speedboat to prevent the dinghy from entering the path of an oncoming cargo ship. Witnesses said it came “very close”
Migrants being shadowed by a French warship (Image: Daily Express)
This is the staggering moment a migrant dinghy defied “rough” conditions in the Channel as the number of small boat arrivals soared past 50,000.
The striking footage, obtained by the Daily Express, shows dozens of men packed together, holding on, as their boat rode the waves.
And the French had to scramble a speedboat to prevent the dinghy from entering the path of an oncoming cargo ship.
Witnesses said it came “very close” and that the dinghy was travelling in “bad weather” and increasing winds, prompting fears of another disaster.
It comes as the number of small boat arrivals under Sir Keir Starmer surged past 50,000 on Monday. The Home Office confirmed 474 people arrived on eight boats. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch on Tuesday vowed to reduce the number of Channel crossings to zero if she wins the next General Election.
Asked if she could reduce the number to zero, Mrs Badenoch said: “I think that we can … it wouldn’t happen straight away, but it would happen quickly.
“My team are now looking at what we can do in terms of detention centres, but stopping people from coming here in the first place – if they think they’re going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won’t come here.”
The video, taken on Monday afternoon, could show the 50,000th migrant to arrive under Labour. About 400 people are believed to have been detected on Monday morning.
Young men dangled their legs over the side of the dinghy, with alarmingly few wearing a lifejacket.
Others sat on the flimsy floor of the boat, despite fears it could cause it to collapse and plunge people into the water. Many could be seen shouting at each other.
A witness told the Express: “We could see the French warship gradually approaching from the distance. The weather was turning bad and the wind was increasing and we were surprised that it carried on bringing the migrant boat into the rough weather.
“We could clearly see the UK border force boat waiting on the border line and they had been waiting for over an hour as the dinghy made slow progress through the rough sea. Once it got close, we could see that many of the people on board were young men and had no lifejackets.
“At one point, it was very close to a large ship in the shipping lane and the French warship launched its rescue boat from the warship to direct it away from the path of the oncoming ship, once it eventually cross the border the UK border force picked up all the people and took them to Dover.”
Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers added of the 50,000 milestone: “It’s devastating, isn’t it? It’s devastating for the taxpayers picking up the tab. It’s devastating for communities across the country, like in Epping, where we’re seeing some horrific incidents.
“And what occurred there, that means that people don’t go out in their own communities and feel safe. They don’t send their children out and their wives and women around in public spaces. And it’s devastating for local economies.
It comes as a Government minister denied the crisis is her party’s fault.
Lady Smith, the skills minister, said: “This is a problem that, up to this point, we haven’t managed to tackle in terms of the numbers who are coming here.
More than 26,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year (Image: Daily Express)
“But it is a completely legitimate claim to say that that is because what is happening is the result of the last government that chose to focus on gimmicks with the Rwanda scheme that returned four volunteers.”
Asked if she was saying the crossings were not Labour’s fault, the former home secretary said: “We are taking responsibility. I don’t believe it is our fault that it was enabled to take root in the way in which it has done by a government who failed to do what was necessary at that point.
“There are signs of progress but there is more that we need to do and that is what we will be focusing on. It is our responsibility now and we are taking that responsibility seriously.”
The number of small boat arrivals under Keir Starmer hit 50,000 in just 403 days. A record number of migrants have crossed the Channel for five consecutive months, highlighting how smugglers are exploiting Britain’s lax borders.
Analysis of Home Office figures show 4,586 people were detected in March, a 44% increase on the previous high of 3,180 in 2024.
The rise in April was even sharper, with the recorded total of 4,432 103% higher than the 2,176 arrivals in 2023. May’s 3,738 was 28% higher than 2022. But the months of June and July show the scale of the crisis Labour is facing.
In June, 5,170 migrants crossed the Channel, up from 3,823 in 2023 – an increase of 35%. And July’s total of 5,454 represented an increase of 48% from 3,687 in 2022. And the alarming increase has prompted renewed fears over the impact the crisis is having on communities across Britain.
Mr Vickers added: “It’s gone up by 51% with Starmer in office. That is huge. You can’t integrate people on that scale. And the reality is that these aren’t women and children, they’re largely, very largely, groups of lone men.
“So, she said, we should look at all the options on this, firstly, at how we accommodate these people when they’re here, looking at the potential of camps, asking the questions, seeing what the community thinks of that.”