Over 40,000 migrants have arrived on Britain’s beaches on small boats since Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street.
Over 40,000 migrants have arrived on Britain’s beaches on small boats since the last general electio (Image: PA Wire)
A shocking graph proves Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to reduce the number of migrants arriving on small boats isn’t working. Analysis shows the number of crossings in the year since Labour swept to power rose 40% compared to former prime minister Rishi Sunak‘s last year in office.
Over 40,000 migrants have arrived on Britain’s beaches on small boats since the last general election. The total includes 20,600 so far in 2025. The analysis from GB News shows 31,361 migrants made the crossing during Mr Sunak’s last year in No.10.
This graph compares the number of small boat arrivals under Starmer and Sunak’s premierships (Image: Daily Express/Reach Plc.)
Mr Sunak’s 618 days as prime minister saw 50,420 crossings, with an average 82 arrivals per day. This compares to an average arrival rate for Sir Keir of 120 from a total of 44,069 so far in his premiership, according to the broadcaster’s analysis.
When Sir Keir entered Downing Street he scrapped the previous government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda but failed to put anything else in its place. The Tories‘ plan had been deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court but was pushed through parliament in emergency legislation by Mr Sunak’s government.
Other analysis shows the number of people crossing the Channel increased “significantly” in the first year of the Labour Government. The Migration Observatory this week reported around 42,000 arrivals in the year ending June 30, 2025. It said this is 34% more than the year before and close to record levels reached in 2022.
Sir Keir’s plan to stop small boat arrivals includes sending refused asylum seekers to return hubs in other countries, but so far all this has resulted in is Albania ruling itself out of such a deal with the UK. The PM has pledged to end use of asylum seeker hotels, but only by the end of this parliament.
Despite his damning record so far, Sir Keir’s daily average is better than former prime minister Liz Truss, whose rate per day was 212 arrivals over her 49 days in office. A total of 10,397 migrants crossed the English Channel over her period in office.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday (July 4) said ministers are looking at a range of ways to cut small boat crossings.
Ms Cooper told Sky News she hoped France would change its own rules “as swiftly as possible” to allow French police officers to intervene in French waters.
She said: “We’ve seen these just appalling scenes of people just standing in the water, climbing into the boats, French police unable to do anything about it.
“So (that is) one of the things I’ve been working very closely with the French interior minister on, and he and I agree those French rules need to change.”
The Home Secretary told the BBC that every migrant who arrives on a small boat where someone has died should face prosecution.
She said: “I think it’s just totally appalling that you see boats where children are being crushed to death on these overcrowded boats, and yet the boat still continues to the UK. So we want to strengthen the law to have endangerment of life at sea be part of our laws, so we can prosecute.
“Frankly, I want to see everybody who is arriving on a boat where a child’s life has been lost, frankly, should be facing prosecution, either in the UK or in France.”
According to the Migration Observatory, attempts to cross the Channel by small boat have grown more deadly in recent years. There were 73 confirmed deaths in 2024 – five times as many as the previous year.
The Migration Observatory reports that a total of 147 people died attempting the crossing between 2018 and April this year.
Government figures show so far this month 618 migrants arrived on 11 boats. This averages out to 56 per vessel.
