Sir Keir Starmer’s Channel migrant crisis has been laid bare by alarming new analysis. March’s figure of 4,586 is the highest ever recorded in the first six months of a calendar year.
Three of the top ten months with the most arrivals have come under the Labour leader’s premiership. Officials believe there have been far more “red days” – when crossings are considered likely because conditions are calmer – than in previous years. Daily Express analysis reveals the months with the most migrant crossings are:
Migrant crossings per month (Image: DX)
1: August 2022 (8,631 migrants)
2: September 2022 (7,964)
3: November 2021 (6,971)
4: October 2022 (6,900)
5: August 2023 (5,369)
6: October 2024 (5,187)
7: September 2023 (4,729)
8: September 2021 (4,602)
9: March 2025 (4,586)
10: August 2024 (4,211)
August, September and October are considered the peak months for smugglers hoping to traffick people into the UK due to flatter seas and calmer winds.
The findings will heap pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to urgently establish a deterrent to migrants planning to cross the Channel.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Express: “More talking, more tough-sounding words, more polished social media clips and broadcast interviews – yet still no real or decisive action.
“We face an existential crisis at our borders. Hollow slogans and empty rhetoric simply won’t cut it.
“Since Labour took power last year, the number of small boat arrivals has surged. We are now on the precipice of seeing 30,000 illegal entries since the election.”
Home Secretary Ms Cooper admitted the UK’s border security is currently “dependent on the weather”.
More than 4,500 crossed in March (Image: Getty)
This has allowed smugglers that have “taken a deep hold along the English Channel” to launch more boats packed with dozens of asylum seekers.
Home Office sources admit “the increased overcrowding of dinghies has been one of the starkest and most dangerous features of the past year and has tragically resulted in 2024 recording the highest number of fatalities among those trying to cross the Channel.”
Insiders said many of the deaths are because of migrants suffocating as the boat folds in on itself when it begins to deflate.
Others drown when the boat breaks down because it is so overcrowded.
The Prime Minister on Monday insisted there was “nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye” to the Channel migrant crisis because it gave asylum seekers “false hope” to continue making the journeys.
He said Britain had been a “soft touch” on illegal migration for too long.
Ministers and law enforcement chiefs discussed international co-operation on illegal migration, as well as supply routes, criminal finances and online adverts for people smuggling during the meeting.
Sir Keir said he wants countries to share more intelligence, resources, tactics and equipment to combat illegal migration.
