In a record-breaking day, nearly 1,200 migrants made the perilous Channel crossings

Migrants prepare to make the dangerous journey from France (Image: Getty Images)

Almost 1,200 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats yesterday in a new daily record for 2025. The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 people arrived in 18 dinghies, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811.

French police officers were seen watching as migrants, including children, boarded at a beach in Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk, and authorities were then pictured escorting the boats. French authorities said they rescued 184 people and that numerous boat departures were reported.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X: “Eighteen boats carrying 1,194 illegal migrants crossed yesterday. That’s the highest daily figure this year. Where are all the women and children?”

Defence Secretary John Healey said the scenes of migrants being picked up by smugglers “like a taxi” to be brought to the UK were “shocking”.

He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “Pretty shocking, those scenes yesterday.

“Truth is, Britain’s lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.”

He said it is a “really big problem” that French police are unable to intercept boats in shallow waters.

He said: “We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming around like a taxi to pick them up.”

He insisted the UK is pushing for France to put new rules into operation so they can intervene.

Mr Healey said: “They’re not doing it, but, but for the first time for years, for the first time, we’ve got the level of cooperation needed.

“We’ve got the agreement that they will change the way they work, and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.”

The highest number of arrivals recorded on a single day so far this year was 825 on May 21.

This year is on course to set a record for Channel crossings, with the current total up 42% on this point last year.

Sir Keir Starmer‘s Government has pledged to crack down on small boat crossings including with measures targeting smuggling gangs.

A Home Office source said: “We have developed strong co-operation with the French and it is important that they have agreed to disrupt these boats once they’re in the water – and not just on the shore.

“This vital step now needs to be operationalised to protect border security and save lives.”

A Home Office spokesperson pointed to measures to share intelligence internationally, enhance enforcement operations in northern France and introduce tougher rules in its immigration legislation.

“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 is why this Government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.”