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Small boat arrivals have risen to more than 20,000 since Keir Starmer took over, with Home office claiming a record number of calm autumn days in the Channel.
A 31-day period from October to November had the highest ratio of so-called “red days” – when weather conditions make crossings “probable” or “very likely” – since records began in 2018, according to a leaked analysis.
As a result, 6,288 people crossed the Channel compared to 768 in the same period last year.
The data will be used by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to explain why the number of small boat crossings carrying asylum seekers has jumped in recent weeks.
After two weeks of bad weather preventing the crossing, two boats reached UK waters after midnight on Saturday with a total of 122 people on board. It took the number from July 4 to reach 20,110.
It comes as Cooper prepares to make a statement to the House of Commons about the deal he signed last week with the Iraqi government to work together to tackle people-smuggling gangs and increase returns to rejected claimants.
According to Home Office figures covering October 11 to November 10, 26 of the 31 days were classified as “red”, compared with just three for the same dates in 2023.
When the Conservative government leaves office, 2024. was set to be the busiest year ever for small boat arrivals, with 13,574 crossing the Channel in the six months before the election.
That’s almost 19% more than the 11,433 that passed in the same period in 2023, and 5% more than the 12,900 in the previous record year of 2022. and more than double to 6,594 in 2021.
In her statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Cooper is expected to contrast the government’s strategy with the history of her predecessors, who she will say have lost control of every aspect of the immigration and asylum system, from small boat arrivals and spending for asylum hotels to total levels of net migration.
It took about eight and a half months to reach over 20,000 after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.
His term began in the fall, meaning his first few months in office coincided with winter weather conditions, when fewer crossings typically take place.
In contrast, Starmer took over the role in the middle of the summer period, when crossings are usually most numerous and frequent amid better weather.
It took about five months to reach 20,000 migrants after he came to power.
A Labor a source said: “Robert Jerrick told the truth last week. He said “the Tory party’s treatment of immigration has failed the country badly” and “has done enormous and lasting harm”. We will not repeat the same mistakes.”
Government minister Pat McFadden told Sky News Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the UK will “always need migration” but this must be balanced with training the British workforce so that “you don’t become too reliant on immigration”. .
He said Labor would not set net migration targets but would publish a plan next week to reduce legal and illegal migration.
Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday admitted that previous Tory governments had failed to keep their promises on immigration and promised to launch a radical review of Tory immigration policies.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics on Thursday showed net migration under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak rose to 906,000 in 2023.
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