4,644 cross Channel in 3 months... a new high

A RECORD number of migrants crossed the Channel during the first three months of the year. Official data reveals that 4,644 reached Britain by small boat in January, February and March – up 23 per cent on the 3,793 in the same period last year.

The first quarter of 2022 – which went on to see an annual record of 45,800 migrants come here from the Continent – had 4,162 arrivals, or 12 per cent less than this year.

The figures were released as 338 migrants were brought to Dover after being intercepted in the Channel on Tuesday, according to Home Office figures.

Last Wednesday – the day the House of Lords again voted to block the Government’s Rwanda laws – witnessed 514 arrivals, the highest daily total since December 2.

In early January, Home Secretary James Cleverly set out an ‘unamon biguous’ target to cut Channel small boats to zero this year. He made the pledge after last year’s total was 36 per cent down on 2022.

But the latest data suggests the trend is going seriously awry.

The Government’s Safety of Rwanda Bill remains stuck in parliamentary limbo, with MPs not scheduled to debate it again until after Westminster returns from its Easter break. It means 6,767 migrants have reached Britain since Rishi Sunak announced an emergency package of measures on November 15 to get Rwanda deportations off the ground.

And 20,010 have arrived since the Government passed its previous immigration laws, the Illegal Migration Act, which was also designed to combat Channel crossings.

A Home Office spokesman said the number of crossings was ‘unacceptable’ and showed ‘exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible’.

‘We remain committed to building

the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation,’ the spokesman said.

An ally of former home secretary Suella Braverman said: ‘No 10 were very quick to brief that Suella did not have a grip on the department even though she got numbers down 30 per cent. Cleverly came in and made a big play of how he was a man of action, not words. But judging by his actions, we now have three months of record numbers.’

Labour’s immigration spokesman Stephen Kinnock said: ‘Rishi Sunak keeps on telling the British people that small-boat arrivals are coming down and his promise to stop the boats remains on track.

‘Can he not see what is happening from inside his No 10 bunker, or does he think we can’t see it for ourselves? Either way, it’s time to get a grip and restore order to the border.’

‘Time to restore order to the border’