The number of small boat migrants who have crossed the Channel so far this year has passed the total for the whole of 2024 in a blow to Sir Keir Starmer. Sources said the figure for 2025 has now exceeded the 36,816 who made the dangerous journey last year.

The total number of arrivals since the Prime Minister entered No 10 has also hit 60,000. The figures are fresh embarrassment for Sir Keir, who pledged to “smash the gangs”, after it emerged that a migrant who was deported to France under the “one-in, one-out” deal has returned to the UK on a small boat.

Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The floodgates are open, the borders are gone, and the British public are left picking up the pieces.

“The Channel is now a conveyor belt for illegal immigration, and Keir Starmer is waving them through with taxpayer-funded hotel keys. Rapists, gang members, and foreign offenders are slipping through while the Government sits on its hands.

“British people didn’t vote for an open border experiment. And today we learn that even when we deport them, they simply hop back on the next dinghy. Keir Starmer’s government has created the world’s first revolving-door deportation scheme. This is a national humiliation.”

Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch, urged the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to “get a grip”.

He said: “Migration Watch has warned time and time again that without proper deterrence or effective action against those crossing the Channel illegally, numbers would go on rocketing.

“This is no way to control the border. Sir Keir Starmer and his Home Secretary must get with it and get a grip. The public have had enough of talk and gimmicks with no action.”

Ms Mahmood admitted the figures were “shameful” as she sought to blame the previous Tory government.

She said: “The previous government left our borders in crisis, and we are still living with the consequences. These figures are shameful – the British people deserve better.

“This Government is taking action. We have detained and removed more than 35,000 who were here illegally. Our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.

“But it is clear we must go further and faster – removing more of those here illegally, and stopping migrants from making small boat crossings in the first place.

“And I have been clear: I will do whatever it takes to restore order to our border.”

It comes after it emerged that a migrant who was deported to France under the “one-in, one-out” deal has re-entered the UK on a small boat in fresh embarrassment for the Prime Minister.

The man has been detained and the Home Office intends to send him back to France again, it is understood.

He told the Guardian he was a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in northern France.

The man said: “If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK.

“When we were returned to France we were taken to a shelter in Paris. I didn’t dare to go out because I was afraid for my life. The smugglers are very dangerous. They always carry weapons and knives. I fell into the trap of a human trafficking network in the forests of France before I crossed to the UK from France the first time.

“They took me like a worthless object, forced me to work, abused me, and threatened me with a gun and told me I would be killed if I made the slightest protest.

“Every day and every night I was filled with terror and stress. Every day I live in fear and anxiety, every loud noise, every shadow, every strange face scares me.

“When I reached UK the first time and Home Office asked what had happened to me I was crying and couldn’t speak about this because of shame.”

The returns deal struck between the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year is aimed at dettering people from making the dangerous Channel crossing.

It means small boat migrants can be detained and returned to France, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who applied through a safe and legal route.